Collaborative Research: From Displacement to Resilience: Aid, Economic Recovery, and Social Cohesion in Post-Conflict Societies

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Award will fund a research project to investigate whether post-conflict economic recovery programs to reestablish livelihoods and rebuild local economies alleviate one of the root causes of conflict---low social cohesion---by increasing economic interdependence, increasing intergroup contact, and generate economic activity that increases the opportunity costs of crime. This project will study these dynamics in an economic recovery program spearheaded by the United Nations in an environment where years of conflict has led to significant social tensions. The focus of the study is on how these programs indirectly affect social cohesion through individuals’ social networks. The researchers therefore will engage in painstaking data collection of social network data for the analyses of these indirect channels. The research will inform the broader understanding of how aid to rebuild livelihoods impacts sociopolitical development and the prevention of conflict relapse after civil war. The indirect mechanism studied will provide input to guide the development and implement more efficient policies. This Award will fund a research project that seeks to understand whether and how post-conflict economic recovery programs affect economic opportunities and social cohesion in the communities. The project will use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) methodology to investigate three interrelated research questions: (i) How do economic livelihood programs improve or erode social cohesion between hosts, returnees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs)? (ii) how do these programs have broader effects on displacement-affected communities through social and economic networks? (iii) When traditional approaches to estimating spillover effects are not available due to program features, costs, or ethics, what do feasible alternatives recover? The PIs will answer these questions by conducting a series of innovative and well-designed RCTs in a large post conflict area. The answers to these questions have the potential to inform both research and program design, especially of US foreign aid policy, in numerous contexts where similar social dynamics or interventions exist. 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.