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Unintended Consequences of Sanctions for Human Rights: Conflict Minerals and Infant Mortality

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  • Dominic P. Parker
  • Jeremy D. Foltz
  • David Elsea

Abstract

Are victims of human rights abuses better off with or without economic sanctions targeted at their perpetrators? We study this question in the context of a US human rights policy, the conflict-minerals section of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. By discouraging companies from sourcing tin, tungsten, and tantalum from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the policy has acted as a de facto boycott on mineral purchases that may finance warlords and armed militias. We estimate the policy's impact on the mortality of children born before 2013 and find that it increased the probability of infant deaths in villages near the policy-targeted mines by at least 143 percent. We find suggestive evidence that the legislation-induced boycott did so by reducing mothers' consumption of infant health care goods and services.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominic P. Parker & Jeremy D. Foltz & David Elsea, 2016. "Unintended Consequences of Sanctions for Human Rights: Conflict Minerals and Infant Mortality," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 59(4), pages 731-774.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/691793
    DOI: 10.1086/691793
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    Cited by:

    1. Bazillier, Remi & Girard, Victoire, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Bossavie, Laurent & Cho, Yoonyoung & Heath, Rachel, 2023. "The effects of international scrutiny on manufacturing workers: Evidence from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. James Cust, 2017. "The role of governance and international norms in managing natural resources," WIDER Working Paper Series 203, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Pagel, Jeff, 2022. "A natural resource curse: the unintended effects of gold mining on malaria," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115532, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Poignant, Adrian, 2023. "Small-scale mining and agriculture: Evidence from northwestern Tanzania," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Maleke Fourati & Victoire Girard & Jeremy Laurent-Lucchetti, 2021. "Sexual violence as a weapon of war," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2103, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    9. Anouk Rigterink, 2018. "Diamonds: Rebel's and Farmer's best friend," OxCarre Working Papers 211, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.
    10. Jeffrey R. Bloem, 2023. "Good Intentions Gone Bad? The Dodd-Frank Act and Conflict in Africa’s Great Lakes Region," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 71(2), pages 621-666.
    11. Anouk S. Rigterink, 2020. "Diamonds, Rebel’s and Farmer’s Best Friend: Impact of Variation in the Price of a Lootable, Labor-intensive Natural Resource on the Intensity of Violent Conflict," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 64(1), pages 90-126, January.
    12. James Cust, 2017. "The role of governance and international norms in managing natural resources," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-203, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    13. Vincenzo Bove & Jessica Di Salvatore & Roberto Nisticò, 2023. "Economic Sanctions and Trade Flows in the Neighborhood," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 671-697.
    14. Jerg Gutmann & Matthias Neuenkirch & Florian Neumeier, 2024. "Political Economy of International Sanctions," Research Papers in Economics 2024-07, University of Trier, Department of Economics.
    15. 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.
    16. Katharina Hombach & Thorsten Sellhorn, 2019. "Shaping Corporate Actions Through Targeted Transparency Regulation: A Framework and Review of Extant Evidence," Schmalenbach Business Review, Springer;Schmalenbach-Gesellschaft, vol. 71(2), pages 137-168, May.
    17. Deiana, Claudio & Giua, Ludovica, 2023. "This site is closed! The effect of decommissioning mining waste facilities on mortality in the long run," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    18. HIGASHIDA Keisaku & MURAKAMI Shinsuke & SHINKUMA Takayoshi, 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).
    19. Coulibaly, Massa & Foltz, Jeremy & Parker, Dominic & Olurotimi, Osaretin & Traoré, Nouhoum, 2024. "The effects of mining on local poverty in developing countries: Evidence from Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    20. 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.
    21. 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.
    22. Syed Hasan & Odmaa Narantungalag, & Martin Berka, 2022. "No pain, no gain? Mining pollution and morbidity," Discussion Papers 2203, School of Economics and Finance, Massey University, New Zealand.
    23. Mavisakalyan, Astghik & Minasyan, Anna, 2022. "Mining and Mistrust in Government," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1164, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    24. Fatemeh Rahimzadeh & Hamed Pirpour & Bahman P. Ebrahimi, 2022. "The impact of economic sanctions on the efficiency of bilateral energy exports: the case of Iran," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 2(9), pages 1-18, September.

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