Trusting Former Rebels: An Experimental Approach to Understanding Reintegration after Civil War
| Author(s): | doc. PhDr. Michal Bauer Ph.D., Nathan Fiala Mgr. Ian Levely , Nathan Fiala |
|---|---|
| Type: | Others |
| Year: | 2014 |
| Number: | 0 |
| ISSN / ISBN: | 1211-3298 |
| Published in: | CERGE-EI Working Papers |
| Publishing place: | Prague |
| Keywords: | trust, cooperation, civil war, endogenous preferences, soldiers, reintegration |
| JEL codes: | C93, D03, D74, O12 |
| Suggested Citation: | Bauer, Michal; Nathan Fiala and Ian Levely. 2014. "Trusting Former Rebels: An Experimental Approach to Understanding Reintegration after Civil War," CERGE-EI Working Paper Series, no. 512.. |
| Grants: | Trust and Trustworthiness Among Ex-Combatants in Northern Uganda: Experimental Evidence |
| Abstract: | The stability of many post-con ict societies rests on the successful reintegration of former soldiers. We use an experimental approach to study reintegration in Northern Uganda and examine behavior of former soldiers together with the be- havior of receiving communities towards this group. We focus on trust-based interactions and nd that individual trustworthiness increases with the length of time a person was with the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel group which forcibly recruited a large fraction of young people in the area. The eect is strongest among former soldiers who were abducted during childhood and is mute among those who soldiered during adulthood. These results are consistent with predic- tions of recent theories that highlight the importance of cooperation during war. Furthermore, members of receiving communities with an abductee son, who thus have better knowledge of former soldiers are aware of the behavioral dierence. They believe former soldiers are more trustworthy than their peers and trust them more. Last, we nd no evidence of reference-based discrimination, suggesting that anger is attenuated when communities do not attribute responsibility for committed violence to returning soldiers. |
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Trusting Former Rebels |
