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Do Modern-Time Wars Make States? Panel Data Evidence

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  • Mauricio Cárdenas
  • Marcela Eslava
  • Santiago Ramírez

Abstract

We re-examine the view that wars make strong states, taking advantage of panel data to address two of the most obvious endogeneity concerns that arise in this context: initial conditions and persistence of state capacity. Our main message is that, in modern times, there is no evidence that wars lead to strong states. In contrast to findings for earlier periods, our results show that external conflicts have displayed a negative correlation with traditional measures of state capacity in recent decades, which becomes insignificant after controlling for initial conditions and the persistence of state capacity. As in previous work, we find a negative capacity- internal conflict correlation, robust to controlling jointly for initial conditions and persistent effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Mauricio Cárdenas & Marcela Eslava & Santiago Ramírez, 2013. "Do Modern-Time Wars Make States? Panel Data Evidence," Documentos CEDE 11939, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
  • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:011939
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mauricio Cardenas & Marcela Eslava & Santiago Ramirez, 2016. "Why internal conflict deteriorates state capacity? Evidence from Colombian municipalities," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(3), pages 353-377, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    State capacity; conflict; external war.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • H1 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • H8 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues

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