The geography of interstate resource wars

Caselli, Francesco, Morelli, Massimo and Rohner, Dominic (2015) The geography of interstate resource wars. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130 (1). pp. 267-315. ISSN 0033-5533

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Abstract

We establish a theoretical and empirical framework to assess the role of resource endowments and their geographic location in interstate conflict. The main predictions of the theory are that conflict is more likely when at least one country has natural resources, when the resources in the resource-endowed country are closer to the border, and, in the case where both countries have natural resources, when the resources are located asymmetrically vis-à-vis the border. We test these predictions on a novel data set featuring oilfield distances from bilateral borders. The empirical analysis shows that the presence and location of oil are significant and quantitatively important predictors of interstate conflicts after World War II.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/
Additional Information:	© 2015 Oxford University Press
Library of Congress subject classification:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Sets:	Departments > Economics Research centres and groups > Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)
Date Deposited:	16 Apr 2015 13:32
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/61615/

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