Warlord Led Civil Conflicts for Natural Resources: Policy Options for Conflict Resolution
Publisher: Journal of Global Peace and Conflict
Author(s): Didarul Hasan and Sajal Lahiri
Date: 2017
Topics: Conflict Prevention
Countries: Myanmar
We develop a two-period model linking natural resources to civil conflicts led by warlords. Contrary to the existing literature, we assume that both resource extraction and wage rate are endogenous. We examine some policy options for the international community as well as for the conflict-affected country. We find that current sanction on resource exports is always counter-productive. However, a threat of future sanction unambiguously reduces conflict. An improvement in agricultural productivity may also limit the conflict. Our results also suggest that the most effective policy for conflict resolution is a bilateral piece-meal reduction in war efforts.