IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/compsc/v40y2023i2p111-133.html

Judicial independence and refugee flights

Author

Listed:
  • Saadet Ulasoglu Imamoglu

Abstract

Recent studies suggest that a lack of judicial independence increases the risk of violent action, diminishing the incentives to solve disputes peacefully. However, violent action is not the only option when judiciaries are under the control of the executive. I argue that individuals become refugees in countries with non-independent judiciaries, losing their hope that violations of rules by the executive or privileged groups will be tried fairly. Using data from 181 countries over the 1976–2015 period, I find evidence that the lack of judicial independence leads countries to produce more refugees than others.

Suggested Citation

  • Saadet Ulasoglu Imamoglu, 2023. "Judicial independence and refugee flights," Conflict Management and Peace Science, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 40(2), pages 111-133, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:40:y:2023:i:2:p:111-133
    DOI: 10.1177/07388942211072433
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/07388942211072433
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/07388942211072433?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gordon Tullock, 1971. "The paradox of revolution," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 89-99, September.
    2. Christian Davenport & David A. Armstrong, 2004. "Democracy and the Violation of Human Rights: A Statistical Analysis from 1976 to 1996," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(3), pages 538-554, July.
    3. Engel, Stefanie & Ibanez, Ana Maria, 2007. "Displacement Due to Violence in Colombia: A Household-Level Analysis," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(2), pages 335-365, January.
    4. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Cristian Pop-Eleches & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "Judicial Checks and Balances," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(2), pages 445-470, April.
    5. North, Douglass C. & Weingast, Barry R., 1989. "Constitutions and Commitment: The Evolution of Institutions Governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 803-832, December.
    6. Poe, Steven C. & Tate, C. Neal, 1994. "Repression of Human Rights to Personal Integrity in the 1980s: A Global Analysis," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(4), pages 853-872, December.
    7. Ramseyer, J. Mark, 2001. "Why Are Japanese Judges So Conservative in Politically Charged Cases?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 95(2), pages 331-344, June.
    8. Feld, Lars P. & Voigt, Stefan, 2003. "Economic growth and judicial independence: cross-country evidence using a new set of indicators," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 497-527, September.
    9. Mathias Czaika & Krisztina Kis-Katos, 2009. "Civil Conflict and Displacement: Village-Level Determinants of Forced Migration in Aceh," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 46(3), pages 399-418, May.
    10. Christina Davenport & Will Moore & Steven Poe, 2003. "Sometimes You Just Have to Leave: Domestic Threats and Forced Migration, 1964-1989," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 27-55, January.
    11. Prakash Adhikari, 2013. "Conflict‐Induced Displacement, Understanding the Causes of Flight," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 57(1), pages 82-89, January.
    12. Julio Ríos-Figueroa & Jeffrey K. Staton, 2014. "An Evaluation of Cross-National Measures of Judicial Independence," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 30(1), pages 104-137.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rost, Nicolas & Ronco, Michele, 2026. "Anticipating humanitarian emergencies with a high risk of conflict-induced displacement," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 138-157.
    2. Fonner, Robert & Bohara, Alok K & Archambault, Stephen, 2018. "Migration Choices during Conflict in Nepal: Pull Forces and Landscape Interactions," International Journal of Development and Conflict, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, vol. 8(2), pages 46-61.
    3. Yuri M. Zhukov, 2014. "Theory of Indiscriminate Violence," Working Paper 365551, Harvard University OpenScholar.
    4. Yuliya Kosyakova & Irena Kogan & Frank van Tubergen, 2025. "Multidimensional effects of conflict-induced violence on wartime migration decisions: evidence from Ukraine," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(6), pages 2088-2106, November.
    5. Balcilar, Mehmet & Nugent, Jeffrey B., 2019. "The migration of fear: An analysis of migration choices of Syrian refugees," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 95-110.
    6. Kuhnt, Jana, 2019. "Literature review: drivers of migration. Why do people leave their homes? Is there an easy answer? A structured overview of migratory determinants," IDOS Discussion Papers 9/2019, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    7. Diego Esparza & Jessica Lucas & Enrique Martinez & James Meernik & Ignacio Molinero & Victoria Nevarez, 2020. "Movement of the people: Violence and internal displacement," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 23(3), pages 233-250, September.
    8. Mara Redlich Revkin, 2021. "Competitive Governance and Displacement Decisions Under Rebel Rule: Evidence from the Islamic State in Iraq," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(1), pages 46-80, January.
    9. Horst Feldmann, 2009. "The quality of the legal system and labor market performance around the world," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 39-65, August.
    10. Lars P. Feld & Stefan Voigt, 2004. "Making Judges Independent – Some Proposals Regarding the Judiciary," CESifo Working Paper Series 1260, CESifo.
    11. Jon Echevarria-Coco & Javier Gardeazabal, 2021. "A Spatial Model of Internal Displacement and Forced Migration," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 65(2-3), pages 591-618, February.
    12. Andrea Crippa & Giorgio d’Agostino & John Paul Dunne & Luca Pieroni, 2025. "Conflict as a cause of migration," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 77(2), pages 596-618.
    13. Christian Bjørnskov, 2015. "Constitutional property rights protection and economic growth: evidence from the post-communist transition," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 247-280, September.
    14. Bandiera, Antonella, 2021. "Deliberate displacement during conflict: Evidence from Colombia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    15. Haggard, Stephan & Tiede, Lydia, 2011. "The Rule of Law and Economic Growth: Where are We?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 673-685, May.
    16. Douglas A. Irwin, 2020. "Adam Smith's “tolerable administration of justice” and the Wealth of Nations," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 67(3), pages 231-247, July.
    17. Yuexin Huang & Ruijing Li & Danglun Luo & Rongli Yuan, 2024. "Political uncertainty and litigation efficiency: Evidence from China," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 1020-1055, July.
    18. Matthew Rains & Daniel W Hill Jr, 2024. "Nationalism and torture," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(5), pages 794-807, September.
    19. Chemin, Matthieu, 2021. "Can judiciaries constrain executive power? Evidence from judicial reforms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    20. Vesco, Paola & Baliki, Ghassan & Brück, Tilman & Döring, Stefan & Eriksson, Anneli & Fjelde, Hanne & Guha-Sapir, Debarati & Hall, Jonathan & Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Leis, Maxine R. & Mueller, Hannes & , 2025. "The impacts of armed conflict on human development: A review of the literature," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:compsc:v:40:y:2023:i:2:p:111-133. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://pss.la.psu.edu/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.