Brown Bag seminar in Economics | Mingjie Xu
Welcome to the Brown Bag Seminar in Economics organized by the Department of Economics, SSE. The seminar speaker is Mingjie Xu, Mannheim Univesity
Start time:
2025-02-24 at 12:05
End time:
2025-02-24 at 13:00
Location:
Sveavägen 65, room A542
Welcome to the Brown Bag Seminar in Economics organized by the Department of Economics, SSE. The seminar speaker is Mingjie Xu, Mannheim Univesity who will present "Roads to Peace or Discord: How does Infrastructure Shape Conflict Dynamics in Africa?"
This paper examines the impact of infrastructure projects on conflicts in Africa using georeferenced data on infrastructure projects and conflict events at the spatial resolution of 0.1 degree × 0.1 degree for all of Africa between 2002 and 2019. Employing a spatial difference-in-differences design and instrumental variable strategy, we find that infrastructure projects, particularly roads, reduce high-intensity conflicts like battles. However, they also increase low-intensity conflicts such as riots and protests. The decrease in high-intensity conflicts is mainly attributed to reduced conflicts among stationary rebel groups, while the rise in low-intensity conflicts is concentrated in politically marginalized ethnic regions. We provide evidence that the opportunity cost channel is crucial in driving the relationship between infrastructure and high-intensity conflicts, while grievances play a significant role
in low-intensity conflicts.
Mingjie Xu is a PhD student at Mannheim University.
This seminar takes place at Stockholm School of Economics, Sveavägen 65, in room A542.
Please contact kathrine.abelson@hhs.se if you have any questions.