Democratic Republic of Congo

On the Origins of the State: Stationary Bandits and Taxation in Eastern Congo

A positive demand shock for coltan, a mineral whose bulky output cannot be concealed, leads armed actors to create illicit customs and provide protection at coltan mines, where they settle as “stationary bandits.” A similar shock for gold, easy to conceal,

Journal Article

1 Jan 2020

Human Resource Management in Armed Organizations

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.

Research Project

20 Nov 2018

Jackboots and Bootstraps: The Effect of Bribery on Entrepreneurship

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.

Research Project

20 Nov 2017

Ethnic Contract Enforceability

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.

Working Paper

11 Oct 2016

Bandits or States? Armed Group Expropriation Strategies and the Economy: Evidence from Eastern Congo

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.

Research Project

29 Jun 2015

The industrial organisation of taxation: Evidence from within the police administration in the Democratic Republic of Congo

This project seeks to collect a novel, in-depth dataset on corruption amongst police officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Research Project

1 May 2015

Essays on the Economics of Statelessness and State Formation

This dissertation empirically examines economic exchange in the absence of the state.

Working Paper

7 Jul 2014

Bandits or States? Armed Groups’ Expropriation Strategies and the Economy: Evidence from Eastern Congo

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.

Research Note

26 Jun 2014

Bandits or States? Armed Groups Extraction Strategies and the Economy: Evidence from Eastern Congo

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.

Research Project

21 Jun 2014

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Democratic Republic of Congo