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Capital flight and war

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  • Davies, Victor A. B.

Abstract

The author provides empirical evidence on the effects of inflation on post-war capital flight flows. He tests the hypothesis that inflation has a positive additional impact on capital flight flows after war. He uses a new panel dataset of 77 developing countries, of which 35 experienced at least one episode of war between 1971 and 2000. The author uses a range of estimation methods and four capital flight measures-Cline, World Bank Residual, Morgan Guarantee, and Dooley. The results consistently support the research hypothesis: Post-war inflation increases annual capital flight flows by about 0.005 to 0.01 percentage points of GDP. This effect is substantial in total at high inflation rates. The implication is that low inflation helps to curb capital flight in post-conflict economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Davies, Victor A. B., 2007. "Capital flight and war," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4210, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4210
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Efobi, Uchenna & Asongu, Simplice, 2015. "How Terrorism Explains Capital Flight from Africa," MPRA Paper 68662, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu & Nicholas M. Odhiambo, 2019. "Governance, capital flight and industrialisation in Africa," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 8(1), pages 1-22, December.
    3. Asongu, Simplice A. & Amankwah-Amoah, Joseph, 2018. "Mitigating capital flight through military expenditure: Insight from 37 African countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 38-53.
    4. Asongu, Simplice & Nnanna, Joseph, 2020. "Governance and the Capital Flight Trap in Africa," MPRA Paper 103226, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Efobi, Uchenna & Asongu, Simplice, 2016. "Terrorism and capital flight from Africa," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 81-94.
    6. Umer Shahzad & Fengming Qin, 2019. "New Terrorism and Capital Flight: Pre and Post Nine Eleven analysis for Asia," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 20(1), pages 465-487, May.
    7. Simplice Asongu & Joseph Amankwah-Amoah, 2016. "Military expenditure, terrorism and capital flight: Insights from Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 16/018, African Governance and Development Institute..
    8. Wim Naudé, 2007. "Peace, Prosperity, and Pro-Growth Entrepreneurship," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2007-02, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Simplice A. Asongu & Rexon T. Nting & Evans S. Osabuohien, 2019. "One Bad Turn Deserves Another: How Terrorism Sustains the Addiction to Capital Flight in Africa," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 501-535, September.
    10. Thales Pacific Yapatake Kossele & Mom Aloysius Njong, 2020. "Capital flight and diamond exports in the Central African Republic: The role of political governance crisis," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 362-374, September.
    11. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2017. "Fighting Capital Flight in Africa: Evidence from Bundling and Unbundling Governance," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 305-323, September.
    12. Sanjeev Gupta, 2008. "Enhancing Effective Utilization of Aid in Fragile States," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2008-07, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Arcade Ndoricimpa, 2017. "Analysis of Capital Flight from Burundi," Working Papers 343, African Economic Research Consortium, Research Department.

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    Keywords

    Economic Theory&Research; Banks&Banking Reform; Investment and Investment Climate; Settlement of Investment Disputes; Achieving Shared Growth;
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