Can rational choice modeling explain destructive behavior among the Taliban, Hama and other radical religious militias? This paper proposes a club good framework which emphasizes the function of voluntary religious organizations as efficient providers of local public goods in the absence of government provision. The sacrifices which these groups demand are economically efficient (as in Iannaccone (1992)) and make them well suited for solving the extreme principal-agent problems present in militia production. Thus the analysis can explain why religious radicals create such effective militias. Seemingly gratuitous acts of violence by group members destroy their outside options, increasing the incentive compatibility of loyalty. The analysis has clear implications for economic policy to contain militias.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
10004.
Length: Date of creation: Sep 2003 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10004
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
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