This project exploits a relationship built by the researcher with a large scale armed organization to examine the causes of voluntary recruitment and the trajectories in the organization of individuals who joined as a response to different shocks.
This project tries to understand bribery’s effect on entrepreneurship, which could help policymakers design interventions to aid the development of new enterprises, thus fostering growth and alleviating poverty.
Many states struggle to enforce contracts. The origin of the state's "legal capacity" to enforce contracts is often explained as a result of past choices by rulers.
Building on previous exploratory work, this study utilizes data from conflict-affected Eastern Congo to examine the formation of ‘states’ by armed groups, their taxation activities, and policies aimed at reducing their state capacity.
This study collected yearly historical data on 140 rural villages in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to identify the conditions under which armed groups can create institutions favorable to private sector development in areas over which the central state has little or no authority.
This study uses data on modern-day Eastern Congo to explore whether returns to taxation of resources can explain the establishment of protection, taxation, and dispute resolution institutions.
Sanchez de la Sierra (2017) gathers panel data on armed actors in 650 locations of Eastern Congo to explain the emergence and trajectories of Tilly (1985)’s essential functions of the state.
