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More Legislation, More Violence? The Impact of Dodd-Frank in the DRC

Author

Listed:
  • Nik Stoop
  • Marijke Verpoorten
  • Peter van der Windt

Abstract

The Dodd Frank Act was passed by the US Congress in July 2010 and included a provision – Section 1502 – that aimed to break the link between conflict and minerals in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. To date there is only one rigorous quantitative analysis that investigates the impact of Dodd- Frank on local conflict events. Looking at the short-term impact (2011-2012), it finds that the policy backfired. This study builds on a larger, more representative, dataset of mining sites and extends the time horizon by three years (2013-2015). The results indicate that the policy also backfired in the longer run, especially in areas home to gold mines. For territories with the average number of gold mines, the introduction of Dodd-Frank increased the incidence of battles with 44%; looting with 51% and violence against civilians with 28%, compared to pre-Dodd Frank averages. Delving deeper into the impact of the conflict minerals legislation is important, as President Trump suspended the legislation in February 2017 for a two-year period, ordering his administration to replace it with another policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Nik Stoop & Marijke Verpoorten & Peter van der Windt, 2018. "More Legislation, More Violence? The Impact of Dodd-Frank in the DRC," SALDRU Working Papers 231, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    • Handle: RePEc:ldr:wpaper:231
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    Cited by:

    1. Schütte, Philip, 2019. "International mineral trade on the background of due diligence regulation: A case study of tantalum and tin supply chains from East and Central Africa," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 674-689.
    2. Julika Herzberg & Oliver Lorz, 2020. "Sourcing from conflict regions: Policies to improve transparency in international supply chains," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 395-407, May.
    3. De Haro, Itzel, 2025. "Avocados: Mexico’s green gold, drug cartel violence and the U.S. opioid crisis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    4. Hanai, Kazuyo, 2021. "Conflict minerals regulation and mechanism changes in the DR Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    5. Schleper, Martin C. & Blome, Constantin & Stevenson, Mark & Thürer, Matthias & Tusell, Iu, 2022. "When it’s the slaves that pay: In search of a fair due diligence cost distribution in conflict mineral supply chains," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Stoop, Nik & Verpoorten, Marijke & van der Windt, Peter, 2019. "Artisanal or industrial conflict minerals? Evidence from Eastern Congo," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 660-674.
    7. Jeffrey R. Bloem, 2019. "Good Intentions Gone Bad? The Dodd-Frank Act and Conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes Region," HiCN Working Papers 300, Households in Conflict Network.
    8. Massimo Morelli & Dominic Rohner, 2023. "Natural resources and conflict: The crucial role of power mismatch and geographic asymmetries," Working Papers 698, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    9. Hunnicutt,Patrick & Denny,Sean & Gabriel Englander, 2024. "Private Management of African Protected Areas Improves Wildlife and Tourism Outcomes but With Security Concerns in Conflict Regions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10874, The World Bank.
    10. Keisaku HIGASHIDA & Shinsuke MURAKAMI & Takayoshi SHINKUMA, 2022. "Effect of Trade Restrictive Provisions with Due-diligence on Bilateral Trade Flows: The case of the US regulation on conflict minerals," Discussion papers 22054, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    11. Elbel, Johanna & Bose O'Reilly, Stephan & Hrzic, Rok, 2023. "A European Union corporate due diligence act for whom? Considerations about the impact of a European Union due diligence act on artisanal and small-scale cobalt miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    12. Ninon Moreau-Kastler, 2025. "No blood in my mobile: regulating foreign suppliers," Working Papers 037, EU Tax Observatory.
    13. Michael Addaney & Emma Charlene Lubaale, 2021. "An Unintended Legacy: The External Policy Responses of the USA and European Union to Conflict Minerals in Africa," Laws, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-17, June.
    14. Christopher C. M. Kyba & Grégory Giuliani & Florian Franziskakis & Klement Tockner & Pierre Lacroix, 2019. "Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sites in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Are Not Associated with Nighttime Light Emissions," J, MDPI, vol. 2(2), pages 1-10, April.
    15. Bok Baik & Omri Even‐Tov & Russell Han & David Park, 2024. "The Real Effects of Supply Chain Transparency Regulation: Evidence from Section 1502 of the Dodd–Frank Act," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 62(2), pages 551-587, May.
    16. Jerg Gutmann & Matthias Neuenkirch & Florian Neumeier, 2021. "Sanctioned to Death? The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Life Expectancy and its Gender Gap," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 139-162, January.
    17. Gudrun Franken & Philip Schütte, 2022. "Current trends in addressing environmental and social risks in mining and mineral supply chains by regulatory and voluntary approaches," Mineral Economics, Springer;Raw Materials Group (RMG);Luleå University of Technology, vol. 35(3), pages 653-671, December.
    18. Lee, J. & Bazilian, M. & Sovacool, B. & Hund, K. & Jowitt, S.M. & Nguyen, T.P. & Månberger, A. & Kah, M. & Greene, S. & Galeazzi, C. & Awuah-Offei, K. & Moats, M. & Tilton, J. & Kukoda, S., 2020. "Reviewing the material and metal security of low-carbon energy transitions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    19. Christensen, Hans B., 2022. "Is corporate transparency the solution to political failure on our greatest problems? A discussion of Darendeli, Fiechter, Hitz, and Lehmann (2022)," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H0 - Public Economics - - General
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • Q0 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General

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