Doctoral Dissertation Research: Informal Financial Networks in a Conflict Economy

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This project analyzes an informal financial transfer system that has survived and flourished in the face of protracted civil war. One surprising aspect of civil war is the degree to which economic and social life endures in the face of interminable dislocation and turmoil. The informal financial system under study has endured and even expanded in the face of war, even as formal institutions have mostly broken down. This research will explore how the system operates and how it has shaped the dynamics of the conflict. The project will build knowledge on the internal dynamics and drivers of civil wars, which will help to inform the development of actionable policies aimed at their mitigation, prevention, and termination. Its conclusions will be of relevance to a range of policymakers and non-governmental organizations interested in the micro-dynamics of civil conflict, including how everyday civilians experience and manage the realities of war. This project will employ ethnographic research in two sites neighboring the war zone to illuminate this financial system, an unregulated system based on networks of brokers who send and receive cash on behalf of their customers, including refugees, humanitarian organization, businessmen, and smugglers, among others. Several research methods will be used. A small number of brokers will be shadowed to observe their daily business practices, trace their transnational networks, and register patterns in their transactions. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with brokers, but also customers and humanitarian NGOs that make use of the system and government regulators. Quantitative data, including transaction log data from system agents, also will be examined. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.