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Honing the proper edge: CERP and the two-sided potential of military-led development in Afghanistan

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  • Greg Adams

    (CEO of Stabilitas)

Abstract

Using a newer and expanded dataset as well as a survey of practitioner perceptions, this article adds to a recent body of literature on reconstruction and violence in Afghanistan. Data are taken from military-led development projects by way of the United States military’s Commander’s Emergency Response Program (CERP) and, to measure violence, from U.S. military Significant Activities (SIGACTs) reports. The results suggest that, at great cost, large-budget CERP efforts (those in excess of USD50,000 per project) may be associated with an increase in violence and thus counter-productive to military stability goals. In contrast, small projects (below USD50,000), which comprise a smaller proportion of total CERP allocations, are associated in statistically significant ways with reductions in violence. To explore why CERP projects may have these effects, the article also examines administrative modalities for CERP spending. The results suggest that timely, flexible expenditure of CERP funds are most effective at reducing violence.

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Adams, 2015. "Honing the proper edge: CERP and the two-sided potential of military-led development in Afghanistan," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 53-60, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:epc:journl:v:10:y:2015:i:2:p:53-60
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    File URL: http://www.epsjournal.org.uk/index.php/EPSJ/article/view/227
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrew Beath & Fotini Christia & Ruben Enikolopov, 2013. "Randomized Impact Evaluation of Afghanistan's National Solidarity Programme," World Bank Publications - Reports 16637, The World Bank Group.
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    6. Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben & Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben, 2012. "Winning hearts and minds through development ? evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6129, The World Bank.
    7. Tiffany Chou, 2012. "Does development assistance reduce violence? Evidence from Afghanistan," Economics of Peace and Security Journal, EPS Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 5-13, July.
    8. Andrew Beath & Fotini Christia & Ruben Enikolopov, 2011. "Winning Hearts and Minds through Development Aid: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan," Working Papers w0166, New Economic School (NES).
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    Cited by:

    1. Zürcher, Christoph, 2017. "What Do We (Not) Know About Development Aid and Violence? A Systematic Review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 506-522.
    2. Child, Travers Barclay, 2019. "Conflict and counterinsurgency aid: Drawing sectoral distinctions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    3. Daniel Karell & Sebastian Schutte, 2018. "Aid, exclusion, and the local dynamics of insurgency in Afghanistan," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(6), pages 711-725, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Afghanistan; CERP; violence; military; SIGACTs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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