Opium for the Masses? Conflict-Induced Narcotics Production in Afghanistan
Univ. of Oslo, Dept. of Economics Memorandum No. 05/2009
41 Pages Posted: 17 Mar 2009
There are 2 versions of this paper
Opium for the Masses? Conflict-Induced Narcotics Production in Afghanistan
Date Written: February 20, 2009
Abstract
We show that the recent rise in Afghan opium production is caused by violent conflicts. Violence destroys roads and irrigation, crucial to alternative crops, and weakens local incentives to rebuild infrastructure and enforce law and order. Exploiting a unique data set, we show that Western hostile casualties, our proxy for conflict, have strong impact on subsequent local opium production. This proxy is shown to be exogenous to opium. We exploit the discontinuity at the end of the planting season: Conflicts have strong effects before and no effect after planting, assuring causality. Effects are strongest where government law enforcement is weak.
Keywords: Conflict, narcotics production, resource curse, Afghanistan
JEL Classification: D74, H56, K42, O1
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?
Recommended Papers
-
Addressing the Natural Resource Curse: An Illustration from Nigeria
-
Addressing the Natural Resource Curse: An Illustration from Nigeria
-
Political Foundations of the Resource Curse
By James A. Robinson, Ragnar Torvik, ...
-
By Jonathan Isham, Michael Woolcock, ...
-
Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule
By Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, ...
-
Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule
By Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, ...
-
Kleptocracy and Divide-and-Rule: A Model of Personal Rule
By Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson, ...
-
Natural Resources and Economic Growth: The Role of Investment
By Thorvaldur Gylfason and Gylfi Zoega