Conflict

In Mexico, violence against journalists reduces media activity in the months following an attack and, in the long run, reshapes the profession towards younger and less-established reporters – with lasting implications for local government transparenc...

Conflict disrupting transport routes in Somalia raises food prices and worsens household welfare in distant, peaceful markets, showing that the economic costs of violence travel far beyond the front line through supply chains. Aid strategies focused ...

Wars leave deep and lasting scars on economies. Using data for 115 conflicts across 145 countries over the past 75 years, we document large and persistent declines in output, investment, and trade following the onset of war, with no evidence of recov...

Twenty years after the Lord's Resistance Army conflict ended in northern Uganda, women who were abducted as children during the war and subsequently released show significantly higher rates of depression and perceived stress, reduced social support, ...

A randomised evaluation of a cash and psychological intervention in Ethiopia shows that the joint intervention is needed to improve both mental health and economic outcomes, but the effectiveness of the combined intervention is attenuated by active c...

Evidence from Ukraine shows that civilians’ failure to evacuate during war is driven mainly by practical barriers rather than psychological resistance, with clear information and organised transport proving more effective than behavioural ‘nudges’ in...

Rising crop prices usually quiet conflict, as labourers choose farming over fighting. In Myanmar, rising rice prices instead fuelled state-led violence against civilians. Our findings challenge narratives that frame such atrocities as a reaction to i...

Digital cash transfers can be delivered even in active conflict settings like Sudan and can significantly protect vulnerable households – especially in the most insecure areas – from worsening food insecurity, though their impacts vary by context and...

New evidence from Africa shows that aid reduces conflict when projects are well managed, but increases violence when management and monitoring are weak.