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Contract or war? On the rules of the game in civil wars

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  • Benedikt Korf

    (University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK)

Abstract

Economists have developed a number of theories based on warlord or bandit models to explain intra-state conflict or civil war. Ethnographic studies from civil wars, however, suggest that livelihoods and institutions in the context of a war economy are very complex, more complex than those models suggest. This paper reviews concepts that are discussed in the literature on institutions and applies these to an analysis of the emergence and logic of the rules of the game in the political economy of civil wars. The analysis indicates that contracting in civil wars, whether complete or incomplete-and the opportunity to grab (Skaperdas), to loot (Collier) and to exploit others (Hirshleifer)-takes place on many different scales and between different agents, not only among combatants. This creates a complex, dynamic and hybrid institutional amalgam of coercively imposed rules, traditional norms and co-existing formal institutions. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedikt Korf, 2007. "Contract or war? On the rules of the game in civil wars," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(5), pages 685-694.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jintdv:v:19:y:2007:i:5:p:685-694
    DOI: 10.1002/jid.1355
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jean-Paul Azam & Anke Hoeffler, 2002. "Violence Against Civilians in Civil Wars: Looting or Terror?," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 39(4), pages 461-485, July.
    2. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    3. David Keen, 1997. "A rational kind of madness," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 67-75.
    4. Cramer, C., 2002. "Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 1845-1864, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Korf Benedikt & Engeler Michelle, 2007. "Geographien der Gewalt," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 51(1), pages 221-237, October.
    2. Tirthankar Roy, 2008. "State, society and market in the aftermath of natural disasters in colonial India," The Indian Economic & Social History Review, , vol. 45(2), pages 261-294, June.

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