IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/joupea/v61y2024i5p858-873.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Spatial patterns of communal violence in sub-Saharan Africa

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Döring

    (Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University
    Peace Research Institute Oslo)

  • Katariina Mustasilta

    (Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA))

Abstract

Communal violence is a major source of insecurity within and across borders, sparking significant displacement flows and disturbing livelihoods. While conflict literature has shed light onto its causes, the existing research has paid little systematic attention to the spatial dynamics of communal violence. We distinguish between spillover of violence and spillover of predictors. Spillover of violence is defined as conflict incidences occurring as a direct response to communal violence in a nearby location. Spillover of predictors describes instances of communal violence that occur due to nearby conflict-inducing factors. We clarify theoretical pathways for both spillover processes, focusing on drought exposure affecting not locally but in nearby areas. Applying spatial models, we test the expectations regarding nearby violence breeding violence and nearby drought increasing violence with data on incidences of communal violence for sub-Saharan Africa (1990–2014). Our results demonstrate that communal violence explains nearby communal violence through different spillover processes. We also find evidence for an increase in violence due to exposure from neighborhood droughts as well as other conflict-inducing factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Döring & Katariina Mustasilta, 2024. "Spatial patterns of communal violence in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 61(5), pages 858-873, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:joupea:v:61:y:2024:i:5:p:858-873
    DOI: 10.1177/00223433231168187
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00223433231168187
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/00223433231168187?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Turner, Matthew D. & Ayantunde, Augustine A. & Patterson, Kristen P. & Patterson, E. Daniel, 2012. "Conflict Management, Decentralization and Agropastoralism in Dryland West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 745-757.
    2. Lee, Lung-fei & Yu, Jihai, 2010. "Estimation of spatial autoregressive panel data models with fixed effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 154(2), pages 165-185, February.
    3. Salehyan, Idean & Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede, 2006. "Refugees and the Spread of Civil War," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 60(2), pages 335-366, April.
    4. Balestri Sara & Maggioni Mario A., 2017. "Land-Use Change and Communal Conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 23(4), pages 1-7, December.
    5. Nina von Uexkull & Therese Pettersson, 2018. "Issues and Actors in African Nonstate Conflicts: A New Data Set," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 953-968, September.
    6. James P. LeSage & R. Kelley Pace, 2014. "The Biggest Myth in Spatial Econometrics," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-33, December.
    7. Paul Elhorst & Solmaria Halleck Vega, 2013. "On spatial econometric models, spillover effects, and W," ERSA conference papers ersa13p222, European Regional Science Association.
    8. Federica Cappelli & Caterina Conigliani & Valeria Costantini & Keti Lelo & Anil Markandya & Elena Paglialunga & Giorgia Sforna, 2020. "Do spatial interactions fuel the climate-conflict vicious cycle? The case of the African continent," Journal of Spatial Econometrics, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 1-52, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Franzese, Robert J. & Hays, Jude C. & Cook, Scott J., 2016. "Spatial- and Spatiotemporal-Autoregressive Probit Models of Interdependent Binary Outcomes," Political Science Research and Methods, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 151-173, January.
    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. Sara Balestri & Raul Caruso, 2024. "Vulnerability to Climate Change and Communal Conflicts: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa and South/South-East Asia," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(10), pages 1530-1556, October.
    2. Haller, Peter & Heuermann, Daniel F., 2016. "Job search and hiring in local labor markets: Spillovers in regional matching functions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 125-138.
    3. Montmartin, B. & Herrera, M. & Massard, N., 2015. "R&D policies in France: New evidence from a NUTS3 spatial analysis," Working Papers 2015-11, Grenoble Applied Economics Laboratory (GAEL).
    4. Araujo, Jair Andrade & Souza, Helson Gomes de & Tabosa, Francisco José Silva, 2019. "Income elasticities and inequality of poverty in urban and rural areas of the Brazilian states: a spatial approach," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    5. Matthew J. Higgins & Donald J. Lacombe & Briana S. Stenard & Andrew T. Young, 2021. "Evaluating the effects of Small Business Administration lending on growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(1), pages 23-45, June.
    6. Benjamin Montmartin & Marcos Herrera & Nadine Massard, 2017. "R&D Policy regimes in France: New Evidence from a spatio-temporal Analysis," GREDEG Working Papers 2017-22, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    7. Marcin Wozniak, 2021. "Spatial matching on the urban labor market: estimates with unique micro data," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 55(1), pages 1-17, December.
    8. Víctor Hugo Torres-Preciado & Mayrén Polanco-Gaytán & Miguel A. Tinoco-Zermeño, 2017. "Crime and regional economic growth in Mexico: A spatial perspective," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(3), pages 477-494, August.
    9. Han, Yonghui & Zhang, Fan & Huang, Liangxiong & Peng, Keming & Wang, Xianbin, 2021. "Does industrial upgrading promote eco-efficiency? ─A panel space estimation based on Chinese evidence," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Sara Balestri & Raul Caruso, 2021. "Vulnerability to climate change and communal conflicts: uncovering pathways," DISEIS - Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo dis2103, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimento di Economia internazionale, delle istituzioni e dello sviluppo (DISEIS).
    11. Nan, Shijing & Huo, Yuchen & You, Wanhai & Guo, Yawei, 2022. "Globalization spatial spillover effects and carbon emissions: What is the role of economic complexity?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    12. Mats Håkan Wilhelmsson, 2017. "The effect of house prices on business start-ups: A review and analysis using Swedish regional data," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 4, pages 1-16.
    13. Deborah Gefang & Stephen G. Hall & George S. Tavlas, 2023. "Identifying spatial interdependence in panel data with large N and small T," Papers 2309.03740, arXiv.org.
    14. Yang, Zhenlin & Yu, Jihai & Liu, Shew Fan, 2016. "Bias correction and refined inferences for fixed effects spatial panel data models," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 52-72.
    15. De Siano, Rita & Sapio, Alessandro, 2022. "Spatial merit order effects of renewables in the Italian power exchange," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    16. Wang, Wei & Lee, Lung-Fei & Bao, Yan, 2018. "GMM estimation of the spatial autoregressive model in a system of interrelated networks," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 167-198.
    17. Gabriel S. Lee & Stefanie Braun, 2021. "Agglomeration Spillover Effects in German Land and House Prices at the City and County Levels," Working Papers 207, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    18. Nagayasu, Jun, 2014. "Regional inflation, spatial location and the Balassa-Samuelson effect," MPRA Paper 59220, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Abdullah & Wang Qingshi & Muhammad Akbar, 2022. "A Spatial Panel Analysis of Food Security and Political Risk in Asian Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(1), pages 345-378, May.
    20. Chagas, André L.S. & Azzoni, Carlos R. & Almeida, Alexandre N., 2016. "A spatial difference-in-differences analysis of the impact of sugarcane production on respiratory diseases," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 24-36.

    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:sae:joupea:v:61:y:2024:i:5:p:858-873. 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: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.prio.no/ .

    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.