War and conflict in economics: Theories, applications, and recent trends

We review the main economic models of war and conflict. These models vary in details, but their implications are qualitatively consistent, highlighting key commonalities across a variety of conflict settings. Recent empirical literature, employing both laboratory and field data, in many cases confir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of economic behavior & organization Vol. 178; pp. 998 - 1013
Main Authors Kimbrough, Erik O., Laughren, Kevin, Sheremeta, Roman
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.10.2020
Subjects
All-pay auction
Conflict
Contest
War
War of attrition
D74
F52
F51
F54
N4
War of attrition
H56
War
All-pay auction
Q34
Conflict
Contest
D72
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Summary:We review the main economic models of war and conflict. These models vary in details, but their implications are qualitatively consistent, highlighting key commonalities across a variety of conflict settings. Recent empirical literature, employing both laboratory and field data, in many cases confirms the basic implications of conflict theory. However, this literature also presents important challenges to the way economists traditionally model conflict. We finish our review by suggesting ways to address these challenges.
ISSN:0167-2681
1879-1751
DOI:10.1016/j.jebo.2017.07.026