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PRIO-GRID: A unified spatial data structure

Author

Listed:
  • Andreas Forø Tollefsen

    (Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo, PRIO & Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo)

  • HÃ¥vard Strand

    (Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo, PRIO)

  • Halvard Buhaug

    (Centre for the Study of Civil War, Peace Research Institute Oslo, PRIO & Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology)

Abstract

Contributions to the quantitative civil war literature increasingly rely on geo-referenced data and disaggregated research designs. While this is a welcome trend, it necessitates geographic information systems (GIS) skills and imposes new challenges for data collection and analysis. So far, solutions to these challenges differ between studies, obstructing direct comparison of findings and hampering replication and extension of earlier work. This article presents a standardized structure for storing, manipulating, and analyzing high-resolution spatial data. PRIO-GRID is a vector grid network with a resolution of 0.5 x 0.5 decimal degrees, covering all terrestrial areas of the world. Gridded data comprise inherently apolitical entities; the grid cells are fixed in time and space, they are insensitive to political boundaries and developments, and they are completely exogenous to likely features of interest, such as civil war outbreak, ethnic settlement patterns, extreme weather events, or the spatial distribution of wealth. Moreover, unlike other disaggregated approaches, gridded data may be scaled up or down in a consistent manner by varying the resolution of the grid. The released dataset comes with cell-specific information on a large selection of political, economic, demographic, environmental, and conflict variables for all years, 1946–2008. A simple descriptive data assessment of population density and economic activity is offered to demonstrate how PRIO-GRID may be applied in quantitative social science research.

Suggested Citation

  • Andreas Forø Tollefsen & HÃ¥vard Strand & Halvard Buhaug, 2012. "PRIO-GRID: A unified spatial data structure," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 49(2), pages 363-374, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:49:y:2012:i:2:p:363-374
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    Cited by:

    1. Ore Koren & Benjamin E. Bagozzi, 2016. "From global to local, food insecurity is associated with contemporary armed conflicts," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(5), pages 999-1010, October.
    2. Wantchekon, Leonard & Riaz, Zara, 2019. "Mobile technology and food access," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 344-356.
    3. Seo-Young Cho, 2015. "Human Trafficking, A Shadow of Migration - Evidence from Germany," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(7), pages 905-921, July.
    4. Cemal Eren Arbatlı & Quamrul H. Ashraf & Oded Galor & Marc Klemp, 2020. "Diversity and Conflict," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 727-797, March.
    5. Eoin McGuirk & Marshall Burke, 2020. "The Economic Origins of Conflict in Africa," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(10), pages 3940-3997.
    6. Almer, Christian & Laurent-Lucchetti, Jérémy & Oechslin, Manuel, 2017. "Water scarcity and rioting: Disaggregated evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 193-209.
    7. Jasmien De Winne & Gert Peersman, 2021. "The Impact of Food Prices on Conflict Revisited," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(2), pages 547-560, March.
    8. Paul Bezerra & Alex Braithwaite, 2016. "Locating foreign aid commitments in response to political violence," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 333-355, December.
    9. Sara Balestri & Mario A. Maggioni, 2021. "This Land Is My Land! Large-Scale Land Acquisitions and Conflict Events in Sub-Saharan Africa," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(4), pages 427-450, May.
    10. Marco Manacorda & Andrea Tesei, 2020. "Liberation Technology: Mobile Phones and Political Mobilization in Africa," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(2), pages 533-567, March.
    11. Ursula E. Daxecker & Brandon C. Prins, 2016. "The politicization of crime: electoral competition and the supply of maritime piracy in Indonesia," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 169(3), pages 375-393, December.
    12. Rabah Arezki & Sambit Bhattacharyya & Nemera Mamo, 2015. "Resource Discovery and Conflict in Africa: What Do the Data Show?," CSAE Working Paper Series 2015-14, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
    13. John D. Huber & Laura Mayoral, 2019. "Group inequality and the severity of civil conflict," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-41, March.
    14. Briggs, Ryan C., 2018. "Poor targeting: A gridded spatial analysis of the degree to which aid reaches the poor in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 133-148.
    15. Balestri Sara & Maggioni Mario A., 2014. "Blood Diamonds, Dirty Gold and Spatial Spill-overs Measuring Conflict Dynamics in West Africa," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 551-564, December.
    16. Ore Koren & Laura Mann, 2018. "Nighttime Light, Superlinear Growth, and Economic Inequalities at the Country Level," Papers 1810.12996, arXiv.org.
    17. Jonas Nordkvelle & Siri Aas Rustad & Monika Salmivalli, 2017. "Identifying the effect of climate variability on communal conflict through randomization," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 141(4), pages 627-639, April.
    18. Gerdis Wischnath & Halvard Buhaug, 2014. "On climate variability and civil war in Asia," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 122(4), pages 709-721, February.
    19. Anthony Mveyange, 2015. "Night lights and regional income inequality in Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series 085, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    20. Fjelde, Hanne, 2015. "Farming or Fighting? Agricultural Price Shocks and Civil War in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 525-534.
    21. Benjamin A. T. Graham & Jacob R. Tucker, 2019. "The international political economy data resource," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 149-161, March.

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