Replication data for: Oil and Conflict: What Does the Cross Country Evidence Really Show?

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Anca M. Cotet; Kevin K. Tsui

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Project Citation:

Cotet, Anca M., and Tsui, Kevin K. Replication data for: Oil and Conflict: What Does the Cross Country Evidence Really Show? Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2013. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2019-10-12. https://doi.org/10.3886/E114264V1

Project Description

Summary: This paper re-examines the effect of oil wealth on political violence. Using a unique historical panel dataset of oil discoveries, we show that simply controlling for country fixed effects removes the statistical association between the value of oil reserves and civil war onset. Other macro-political violence measures, such as coup attempts, are also uncorrelated with oil wealth. To further address endogeneity concerns, we exploit changes in oil reserves due to randomness in the success of oil explorations. We find little robust evidence that oil discoveries increase the likelihood of political violence. Rather, oil discoveries increase military spending in nondemocratic countries. (JEL D74, H56, O17, Q34, Q41)

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
      H56 National Security and War
      O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
      Q34 Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
      Q41 Energy: Demand and Supply; Prices

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-12]

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