Inequality and conflict: Burning resources to support peace

• Published in: Economics letters Vol. 197; p. 109601
• Main Authors: Garfinkel, Michelle R., Syropoulos, Constantinos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 01.12.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Arming; Butter; Destructive wars; Disputes; Equilibrium; Inequality; Output insecurity; Ownership; Pareto optimum; Peace; Stable peace; D30; D74; Destructive wars; Stable peace; Arming; F51; Disputes; Output insecurity

We consider a simple, guns-versus-butter model in which agents choose between “war” and “peace” to study the implications of inequality in resource ownership for equilibrium outcomes. Provided war is destructive, peace can emerge as the stable equilibrium, but only if the distribution of resource ow...