From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Impact in Uganda

38 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2012

See all articles by Giacomo De Luca

Giacomo De Luca

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano - Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Economics and Management, Students

Marijke Verpoorten

University of Antwerp - Institute of Development Policy and Management; Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Center for Economic Studies

Date Written: October 2011

Abstract

We show that armed conflict affects social capital as measured by trust and associational membership. Using the case of Uganda and two rounds of nationally representative individual-level data bracketing a large number of battle events, we find that self-reported generalized trust and associational membership decreased during the conflict in districts in which battle events took place. Exploiting the different timing of two distinct waves of violence, we provide suggestive evidence for a rapid recovery of social capital. Evidence from a variety of identification strategies, including difference-in-difference and instrumental variable estimates, suggests that these relationships are causal.

Suggested Citation

De Luca, Giacomo and Verpoorten, Marijke, From Vice to Virtue? Civil War and Social Impact in Uganda (October 2011). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1995463 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1995463

Giacomo De Luca (Contact Author)

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano - Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Faculty of Economics and Management, Students ( email )

Via Sernesi 1
Bozen-Bolzano (BZ), 39100
Italy

Marijke Verpoorten

University of Antwerp - Institute of Development Policy and Management ( email )

City campus building S
Lange Sint Annastraat 7
Antwerp, 2000
Belgium

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven - Center for Economic Studies ( email )

Naamsestraat 69
Leuven, B-3000
Belgium

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