The costs of organized violence: a review of the evidence

• Published in: Economics of governance Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 1 - 23
• Main Author: Skaperdas, Stergios
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer-Verlag 01.03.2011; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Budgets; Civil War; Conflict; Costs; Defense Spending; Developing Countries; Domestic violence; Economic activity; Economic aspects; Economic growth; Economic theory; Economic Theory/Quantitative Economics/Mathematical Methods; Economics; Economics and Finance; Estimating techniques; Ethnic Relations; Expenditures; GDP; Gross Domestic Product; International Political Economy; Manycountries; Military policy; Organized crime; Paramilitary Forces; Paramilitary groups; Political economy; Political Theory; Political Violence; Post traumatic stress disorder; Property rights; Public Administration; Public Finance; Review Article; Studies; Terrorism; Violence; War; World War II; D74; O57; Conflict; Property rights; I31; H56; Governance
• ISSN: 1435-6104; 1435-8131
• DOI: 10.1007/s10101-010-0085-8

I critically review recent studies that estimate those costs of violence and conflict that can emerge among organized political groupings , such as states, religious and ethnic organizations, guerillas and paramilitaries. The review includes studies that estimate direct and indirect costs due to internal conflicts (civil wars and other lower-level conflicts), terrorism, and external conflicts, including military spending. There are a number of key theoretical concerns on what counts as a cost, and, depending on the methods and evidence used, estimated costs vary widely. However, even minimum estimates are economically significant, especially for low-income countries. This is even more so when the costs of different types of organized conflict and violence are aggregated.