Basnet, Shikha
(2011)
The Nature and Consequences of Civil Strife.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Various forms of violence plague our society. While violence is ubiquitous, there is a lack of studiesthat analyze war upsurges in a more dynamic and disaggregated setting, study its relationship withthe country attributes, and its impact on the broader population. In Chapter 1 I build a conceptualframework to analyze violence upsurges in a more dynamic and disaggregated setting. Using thedata on the Maoist insurgency in Nepal (1996-2006), I propose a model that conceptualizes violenceas a spatial-temporal process. I nd that the key determinant of whether or not an area is drawninto a civil war is its proximity of the areas that are already engaged in the civil war. In Chapter 2,I exploit a unique set of education data from Nepal to assess the impact of violence on an importantdeterminant of future economic growth: children's educational attainment. I find that 3 additionaldeaths per 10,000 population (one standard deviation) from the mean reduces the primary andsecondary school examination passing rates by 0.55 and 0.53 standard deviations, respectively.Lastly, in Chapter 3 I present a scenario where differences in a government's innate ability leadsto differences in resulting violence. More specifically, I present a scenario where the inability ofthe government to fully comprehend the ramifications of their actions leads to underinvestment incounterinsurgency. A fully informed government is aware of the breath of consequences of its actionsand takes stringent action accordingly, whereas a myopic government engages in ad hoc responsesonly. I find that if having a revolution is a greater concern, a myopic government facilitates it,whereas, if government's use of violence is as undesirable, a myopic government is preferred. Theoverall conclusion is that an armed conflict within a country has specific characteristics that need tobe further examined with disaggregated data and tested against the economic theories on institution formation. Additionally, an armed conflict also has far-reaching consequences for a warring state's next generation, thereby making policies to address the loss in human capital a necessity to prevent future conflict relapses.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
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| Date: |
15 September 2011 |
| Date Type: |
Completion |
| Defense Date: |
6 June 2011 |
| Approval Date: |
15 September 2011 |
| Submission Date: |
20 July 2011 |
| Access Restriction: |
5 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 5 years. |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Economics |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Conflict; Education; Spillover of War |
| Other ID: |
http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-07202011-162106/, etd-07202011-162106 |
| Date Deposited: |
10 Nov 2011 19:52 |
| Last Modified: |
15 Nov 2016 13:46 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/8475 |
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