IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hic/wpaper/404.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Violent Conflict and Parochial Trust: Lab-in-the-Field and Survey Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Katharina Werner

    (University of Passau)

  • Ahmed Skali

    (University of Groningen & GLO)

Abstract

How does conflict exposure affect trust? We hypothesize that direct (firsthand) experience with conflict induces parochialism: trust towards out-groups worsens, but trust towards in-groups, owing to positive experiences of kin solidarity, may improve. Indirect exposure to conflict through third-party accounts, on the other hand, reduces trust toward everyone, owing to negativity bias. We find consistent support for our hypotheses in a lab-in-the-field experiment in Maluku, Indonesia, which witnessed a salient Christian-Muslim conflict during 1999-2002, as well as in three cross-country datasets exploiting temporal and spatial variation in exposure to violence. Our results help resolve a seeming contradiction in the literature and inform policies on resolving conflicts.

Suggested Citation

  • Katharina Werner & Ahmed Skali, 2023. "Violent Conflict and Parochial Trust: Lab-in-the-Field and Survey Evidence," HiCN Working Papers 404, Households in Conflict Network.
    • Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:404
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hicn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/HiCN-WP-404-2.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michal Bauer & Christopher Blattman & Julie Chytilová & Joseph Henrich & Edward Miguel & Tamar Mitts, 2016. "Can War Foster Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 249-274, Summer.
    2. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    3. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2016. "The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1802-1848, July.
    4. Bjrnskov, Christian, 2009. "Social trust and the growth of schooling," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 249-257, April.
    5. Houser, Daniel & Schunk, Daniel & Winter, Joachim, 2010. "Distinguishing trust from risk: An anatomy of the investment game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 74(1-2), pages 72-81, May.
    6. Samuel Bazzi & Christopher Blattman, 2014. "Economic Shocks and Conflict: Evidence from Commodity Prices," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 1-38, October.
    7. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2013. "War Signals: A Theory of Trade, Trust, and Conflict," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(3), pages 1114-1147.
    8. Sutter, Matthias & Kocher, Martin G., 2007. "Trust and trustworthiness across different age groups," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 364-382, May.
    9. Nikolova, Milena & Popova, Olga & Otrachshenko, Vladimir, 2022. "Stalin and the origins of mistrust," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    10. Nahoko Hayashi & Elinor Ostrom & James Walker & Toshio Yamagishi, 1999. "Reciprocity, Trust, And The Sense Of Control," Rationality and Society, , vol. 11(1), pages 27-46, February.
    11. 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.
    12. Eckel, Catherine & Grossman, Philip J. & Johnson, Cathleen A. & de Oliveira, Angela C.M. & Rojas, Christian & Wilson, Rick, 2011. "Social norms of sharing in high school: Teen giving in the dictator game," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 603-612.
    13. Leah Platt Boustan, 2016. "Introduction to "Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets"," NBER Chapters, in: Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets, pages 1-13, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Michael J. Gilligan & Benjamin J. Pasquale & Cyrus Samii, 2014. "Civil War and Social Cohesion: Lab‐in‐the‐Field Evidence from Nepal," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(3), pages 604-619, July.
    15. Bellows, John & Miguel, Edward, 2009. "War and local collective action in Sierra Leone," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(11-12), pages 1144-1157, December.
    16. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Samuel Bazzi & Arya Gaduh & Alexander D. Rothenberg & Maisy Wong, 2019. "Unity in Diversity? How Intergroup Contact Can Foster Nation Building," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(11), pages 3978-4025, November.
    18. Zussman, Asaf, 2014. "The effect of political violence on religiosity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 64-83.
    19. Booth, Alison & Meng, Xin & Fan, Elliott & Zhang, Dandan, 2022. "The direct and intergenerational behavioural consequences of a socio-political upheaval," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 931-958.
    20. Maarten J. Voors & Eleonora E. M. Nillesen & Philip Verwimp & Erwin H. Bulte & Robert Lensink & Daan P. Van Soest, 2012. "Violent Conflict and Behavior: A Field Experiment in Burundi," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 941-964, April.
    21. Moses Shayo & Asaf Zussman, 2011. "Judicial Ingroup Bias in the Shadow of Terrorism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(3), pages 1447-1484.
    22. Berg Joyce & Dickhaut John & McCabe Kevin, 1995. "Trust, Reciprocity, and Social History," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 122-142, July.
    23. Francesco Cecchi & Koen Leuveld & Maarten Voors, 2016. "Conflict Exposure and Competitiveness: Experimental Evidence from the Football Field in Sierra Leone," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(3), pages 405-435.
    24. Benjamin A. Olken, 2009. "Do Television and Radio Destroy Social Capital? Evidence from Indonesian Villages," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(4), pages 1-33, October.
    25. Vasily Korovkin & Alexey Makarin, 2023. "Conflict and Intergroup Trade: Evidence from the 2014 Russia-Ukraine Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 113(1), pages 34-70, January.
    26. Samuel Bowles, 2008. "Being human: Conflict: Altruism's midwife," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7220), pages 326-327, November.
    27. Giacomo De Luca & Marijke Verpoorten, 2015. "Civil war, social capital and resilience in Uganda," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 661-686.
    28. Nathan Nunn & Leonard Wantchekon, 2011. "The Slave Trade and the Origins of Mistrust in Africa," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3221-3252, December.
    29. Christian Bjørnskov, 2012. "How Does Social Trust Affect Economic Growth?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 78(4), pages 1346-1368, April.
    30. John Bellows & Edward Miguel, 2006. "War and Institutions: New Evidence from Sierra Leone," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 394-399, May.
    31. Blattman, Christopher, 2009. "From Violence to Voting: War and Political Participation in Uganda," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 103(2), pages 231-247, May.
    32. Alwyn Young, 2019. "Channeling Fisher: Randomization Tests and the Statistical Insignificance of Seemingly Significant Experimental Results," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(2), pages 557-598.
    33. Sambanis, Nicholas & Shayo, Moses, 2013. "Social Identification and Ethnic Conflict," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(2), pages 294-325, May.
    34. Sam Whitt, 2010. "Institutions and Ethnic Trust: Evidence from Bosnia," Europe-Asia Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 62(2), pages 271-292.
    35. Leah Platt Boustan, 2016. "Competition in the Promised Land: Black Migrants in Northern Cities and Labor Markets," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bous-2, March.
    36. Moses Shayo & Asaf Zussman, 2017. "Conflict and the Persistence of Ethnic Bias," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 137-165, October.
    37. Fearon, James D. & Laitin, David D., 1996. "Explaining Interethnic Cooperation," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(4), pages 715-735, December.
    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. Gangadharan, Lata & Islam, Asad & Ouch, Chandarany & Wang, Liang Choon, 2022. "The long-term effects of genocide on antisocial preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    2. 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.
    3. Werner, Katharina, 2016. "Whom do people trust after a violent conflict? Experimental evidence from Maluku, Indonesia," Passauer Diskussionspapiere, Volkswirtschaftliche Reihe V-73-16, University of Passau, Faculty of Business and Economics.
    4. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig, 2021. "The Elusive Peace Dividend of Development Policy: From War Traps to Macro Complementarities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 111-131, August.
    5. Colin O'Reilly, 2021. "Violent conflict and institutional change," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(2), pages 257-317, April.
    6. Arzu Kibris & Lena Gerling, 2022. "Armed conflict exposure and trust: Evidence from a natural experiment in Turkey," HiCN Working Papers 363, Households in Conflict Network.
    7. 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.
    8. Dominic Rohner, 2022. "Conflict, Civil Wars and Human Development," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 22.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    9. Conzo, Pierluigi & Salustri, Francesco, 2019. "A war is forever: The long-run effects of early exposure to World War II on trust," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Valencia Caicedo, Felipe & Tur-Prats, Ana, 2020. "The Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War," CEPR Discussion Papers 15091, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Matthew Osborne & Ben D’Exelle & Arjan Verschoor, 2018. "Truly reconciled? A dyadic analysis of post-conflict social reintegration in Northern Uganda," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(1), pages 107-121, January.
    12. Qin, Wei & Liang, Quanxi & Jiao, Yan & Lu, Meiting & Shan, Yaowen, 2022. "Social trust and dividend payouts: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Michal Bauer & Christopher Blattman & Julie Chytilová & Joseph Henrich & Edward Miguel & Tamar Mitts, 2016. "Can War Foster Cooperation?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 249-274, Summer.
    14. Muhammad Nasir & Marc Rockmore & Chih Ming Tan, 2015. "It's No Spring Break in Cancun: The Effects of Exposure to Violence on Risk Preferences, Pro-Social Behavior, and Mental Health," Working Paper series 15-40, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    15. Francesco Bogliacino & Gianluca Grimalda & Laura Jiménez & Daniel Reyes Galvis & Cristiano Codagnone, 2022. "Trust and trustworthiness after a land restitution program: lab-in-the-field evidence from Colombia," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 135-161, June.
    16. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2013. "War, resilience and political engagement in Africa," CSAE Working Paper Series 2013-08, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    17. Travers Barclay Child & Elena Nikolova, 2017. "War and Social Attitudes," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 2017-5, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    18. Melissa Rubio-Ramos, 2022. "Trust, Violence, and Coca," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 176, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    19. Achyuta Adhvaryu & James Fenske, 2014. "Conflict and the Formation of Political Beliefs in Africa," HiCN Working Papers 164, Households in Conflict Network.
    20. Sarah Langlotz, 2021. "Foreign Interventions and Community Cohesion in Times of Conflict," HiCN Working Papers 352, Households in Conflict Network.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    trust; conflict; direct exposure; indirect exposure; religion; discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • Z12 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Religion
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:hic:wpaper:404. 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: Tilman Brück or the person in charge or the person in charge or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hicn.org/ .

    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.