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From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Capital in Uganda

Author

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  • Giacomo De Luca

    (University of Leuven)

  • Marijke Verpoorten

    (University of Leuven)

Abstract

We show that armed conflict affects social capital as measured by trust and associational membership. Using the case of Uganda and two rounds of nationally representative individual-level data bracketing a large number of battle events, we find that self-reported generalized trust and associational membership decreased during the conflict in districts in which battle events took place. Exploiting the different timing of two distinct waves of violence, we provide suggestive evidence for a rapid recovery of social capital. Evidence from a variety of identification strategies, including difference-indifference and instrumental variable estimates, suggests that these relationships are causal.

Suggested Citation

  • Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2011. "From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Capital in Uganda," HiCN Working Papers 111, Households in Conflict Network.
    • Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:111
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    Cited by:

    1. Calvo, Thomas & Lavallée, Emmanuelle & Razafindrakoto, Mireille & Roubaud, François, 2020. "Fear Not For Man? Armed conflict and social capital in Mali," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 251-276.
    2. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2013. "Seeds of distrust: conflict in Uganda," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 217-252, September.
    3. Tilman Br�ck & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Andrew Tedesco & Alexandra Avdeenko, 2013. "Measuring Conflict Exposure in Micro-Level Surveys," HiCN Working Papers 153, Households in Conflict Network.
    4. Patricia Justino, 2012. "Shared Societies and Armed Conflict: Costs, Inequality and the Benefits of Peace," HiCN Working Papers 125, Households in Conflict Network.
    5. Margarita G√°faro & Ana Maria IbÔøΩÔøΩez & Patricia Justino, 2014. "Collective Action and Armed Group Presence in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 11951, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    6. infocede, 2014. "Local Institutions and Armed Group Presence in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 20112, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    7. Tilman Brück & Patricia Justino & Philip Verwimp & Alexandra Avdeenko & Andrew Tedesco, 2016. "Measuring Violent Conflict in Micro-level Surveys: Current Practices and Methodological Challenges," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 31(1), pages 29-58.
    8. Merle Kreibaum, 2014. "Their Suffering, Our Burden? How Congolese Refugees Affect the Ugandan Population," HiCN Working Papers 181, Households in Conflict Network.
    9. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2023. "Conflict and the Formation of Political Beliefs in Africa," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 403-442.
    10. Patricia Justino & Ivan Cardona & Rebecca Mitchell & Catherine M�ller, 2012. "Quantifying the Impact of Women�s Participation in Post-Conflict Economic Recovery," HiCN Working Papers 131, Households in Conflict Network.
    11. Max Schaub, 2014. "Solidarity with a sharp edge: Communal conflict and local collective action in rural Nigeria," HiCN Working Papers 183, Households in Conflict Network.
    12. Aghajanian, Alia Jane, . "Social capital and conflict: impact and implications," Economics PhD Theses, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School, number 0116, December.
    13. Muhsin Ali & Karim Khan, 2023. "Violent Conflict and Informal Institutions: Evidence from a Civil Conflict in Pakistan (Article)," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 235-264.
    14. Margarita G�faro & Ana Maria Ib��ez & Patricia Justino, 2014. "Local Institutions and Armed Group Presence in Colombia," HiCN Working Papers 178, Households in Conflict Network.

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