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The legacy of conflict: aggregate evidence from Sierra Leone

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  • Tillman Hönig

Abstract

This paper studies the general equilibrium impact of civil war in Sierra Leone. I first use an instrumental variable (IV) strategy and geographic conflict variation to estimate reduced-form effects. I show that civil war leads to affected areas having a higher share of workers in agriculture, fewer educated workers, and lower worker income. In order to explicitly take into account general equilibrium effects such as selective migration in response to the war, I then develop an economic geography model.

Suggested Citation

  • Tillman Hönig, 2021. "The legacy of conflict: aggregate evidence from Sierra Leone," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-104, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conflict; Livelihoods; Structural transformation; Migration; Computable general equilibrium; Firm productivity; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

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