This Mine is Mine! How Minerals Fuel Conflicts in Africa

We combine georeferenced data on mining extraction of 14 minerals with information on conflict events at spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° for all of Africa between 1997 and 2010. Exploiting exogenous variations in world prices, we find a positive impact of mining on conflict at the local level. Qua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review Vol. 107; no. 6; pp. 1564 - 1610
Main Authors: Berman, Nicolas, Couttenier, Mathieu, Rohner, Dominic, Thoenig, Mathias
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Nashville American Economic Association 01.06.2017
American Economic Assoc
Subjects:
1997-2010
Armed conflict
Civil wars
Companies
Conflict resolution
Corporate strategies
Data mining
Datasets
Economics and Finance
Escalation
Extraction
Global local relationship
Humanities and Social Sciences
Metals mining
Minerals
Mining
Mining industries
Mining industry
Politics
Prices
Social conditions & trends
Transparency
Violence
World prices
Africa
Colombia
Corruption
Oil
Greed
Curse
War
Natural-Resources
Grievance
Institutions
Armed Civil Conflict
ISSN:0002-8282, 1944-7981
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We combine georeferenced data on mining extraction of 14 minerals with information on conflict events at spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5° for all of Africa between 1997 and 2010. Exploiting exogenous variations in world prices, we find a positive impact of mining on conflict at the local level. Quantitatively, our estimates suggest that the historical rise in mineral prices (commodity super-cycle) might explain up to one-fourth of the average level of violence across African countries over the period. We then document how a fighting group's control of a mining area contributes to escalation from local to global violence. Finally, we analyze the impact of corporate practices and transparency initiatives in the mining industry.
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content type line 14
ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981
DOI:10.1257/aer.20150774