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The Fiscal Cost of Conflict: Evidence from Afghanistan 2005-2016

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  • Mr. Philip Barrett

Abstract

I use a monthly panel of provincially-collected central government revenues and conflict fatalities to estimate government revenues lost due to conflict in Afghanistan since 2005. I identify causal effects by instrumenting for conflict using pre-sample ethno-linguistic share. Headline estimates are very large, implying total revenue losses since 2005 of $3bn, and future revenue gains from peace of about 6 percent of GDP per year. Reduced collection efficiency, rather than lower economic activity, appears to be the key channel. OLS estimates understate the causal effect by a factor of four. Comparing to estimates from Powell’s (2017) generalized synthetic control method suggests that this bias results from omitted variables and measurement error in equal share. The findings underscore the considerable economic loss due to conflict, and the importance of careful identification in measuring this loss.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Philip Barrett, 2018. "The Fiscal Cost of Conflict: Evidence from Afghanistan 2005-2016," IMF Working Papers 2018/204, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2018/204
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    Cited by:

    1. Diana Ricciulli-Marín, 2020. "The Fiscal Cost of Conflict: Evidence from La Violencia in Colombia," Cuadernos de Historia Económica 53, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    2. Karimi, Abdul Matin, 2020. "Moving Away from Foreign Aid: A Case Study of Afghanistan," MPRA Paper 105524, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 23 Jan 2021.
    3. Okwoche Princewill U. & Iheonu Chimere O., 2021. "Determinants of fiscal effort in sub-Saharan African countries: Does conflict matter?," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 7(2), pages 50-73, June.
    4. Rasmane Ouedraogo & Montfort Mlachila & Windemanegda Sandrine Sourouema & Ali Compaoré, 2022. "The impact of conflict and political instability on banking crises in developing countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1937-1977, June.
    5. Diana Ricciulli, 2020. "The Fiscal Cost of Conflict: Evidence from La Violencia in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 18537, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

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