Infrastructure in Conflict-Prone and Fragile Environments

Ali, Rubaba; Barra, A. Federico; Berg, Claudia N.; Damania, Richard; Nash, John D.; Russ, Jason; Russ, Jason

Infrastructure in Conflict-Prone and Fragile Environments | Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

2015

In conflict-prone situations, access to markets is necessary to restore economic growth and generate the preconditions for peace and reconstruction. Hence, the rehabilitation of damaged transport infrastructure has emerged as an overarching investment priority among donors and governments. This paper brings together two distinct strands of literature on the effects of conflict on welfare and on the economic impact of transport infrastructure. The theoretical model explores how transport infrastructure affects conflict incidence and welfare when selection into rebel groups is endogenous. The implications of the model are tested with data from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The analysis addresses the problems of the endogeneity of transport costs and conflict using a novel set of instrumental variables. For transport costs, a new instrument is developed, the natural-historical path, which measures the most efficient travel route to a market, taking into account topography, land cover, and historical caravan routes. Recognizing the imprecision in measuring the geographic impacts of conflict, the analysis develops a spatial kernel density function to proxy for the incidence of conflict. To account for its endogeneity, it is instrumented with ethnic fractionalization and distance to the eastern border. A variety of indicators of well-being are used: a wealth index, a poverty index, and local gross domestic product. The results suggest that, in most situations, reducing transport costs has the expected beneficial impacts on all the measures of welfare. However, when there is intense conflict, improvements in infrastructure may not have the anticipated benefits. The results suggest the need for more nuanced strategies that take into account varying circumstances and consider actions that jointly target governance with construction activities.

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AGROVOC Keywords

access to markets agricultural land agricultural production agricultural productivity conflicts convention costs crop production economic growth economies elasticity farmers farmland government control household income human capital income infrastructure international bank land use malnutrition nutrition nutritional status polarization policies population density poverty poverty reduction projects railroads railways reconstruction rehabilitation road transport roads route rule of law rural areas sanitation traffic transport transport infrastructure transportation violence walking war

Bibliographic information

Publisher

World Bank, Washington, DC

Other Subjects

Wealth; Local conflict; Subsistence farmers; Peace; Farm households; Inequality; Nation; Transport infrastructures; Child mortality; Access to services; Exploitation; Cars; Average daily traffic; Political economy; Nations; Road; Internal war; Vehicle; Rural; Remote communities; Economy; Rural households; Gross vehicle weight; Measures; Transportation costs; Travel costs; Rural area; Highways; Routes; Cost of transport; Rural road; Road improvement; Travel time; Rebel; Civil wars; Economic diversification; Road type; Transport costs; Road traffic; International development; Wars; Transportation infrastructure; Female-headed households; Travel; Fatalities; Rural roads; Household welfare; Investments; Vehicle speed; Rebels; Interstate highway system; Agricultural output; Armed conflict; Battle; Road network; Poor; Agglomeration benefits; Household head; Price of fuel; Economic shocks; Bottlenecks; Fatality; Costs per vehicle; Welfare indicators; Foreign aid; University; Battles; Poverty index; Accessibility; Pedestrian; Emergency response; Infrastructures; Car; Transfers; Conflict; Road quality; Economic sanctions; Poverty impact; Fuel; Highway; Road infrastructure; Civil war; Highway system; Experts; Poverty dynamics; Risks; Transport network; Violent conflict; Impact of transport; Transportation cost; Tax; Travel speed; Warfare; Rural residence; Funds for roads; Transportation network; Better access to markets; Constraint; Independence; Rural infrastructure

Language

English

Type

Working Paper; Text; Working Paper

In AGRIS since: 2016-03-15

Format: AGRIS AP

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Infrastructure in Conflict-Prone and Fragile Environments | Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo

2015

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