What Is a Civil War? A Critical Review of Its Definition and (Econometric) Consequences
We argue that the academic literature, both qualitative and quantitative, has mislabeled most episodes of large-scale violence in Africa as civil wars; these episodes better fit our concept of regional war complexes. Our paper seeks to highlight the fundamental flaws in the conception of civil war i...
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| Language: | en_US |
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Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21428 |
| Summary: | We argue that the academic literature, both qualitative and quantitative, has mislabeled most episodes of large-scale violence in Africa as civil wars; these episodes better fit our concept of regional war complexes. Our paper seeks to highlight the fundamental flaws in the conception of civil war in the econometric literature and their implications for econometric specification and estimation, problems that this literature is inherently incapable of rectifying. We advocate the comparative study of regional war complexes in Africa based on historical narratives. |
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