Drivers and Persistence of Death in Conflicts: Global Evidence

Abstract

We investigate persistence and determinants of deaths from conflicts in a sample of 163 countries for the period 2010–2015. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalized Method of Moments. First, the findings are contingent on income levels, religious domination, landlockedness, regional proximity, and legal origins. We find that the persistence of deaths in internal conflict is more apparent in coastal, French civil law, and Islam-oriented countries, compared to landlocked, English common law, Christian-oriented countries, respectively. Second, the following factors are generally responsible for driving deaths from internal conflicts: homicides, conflict intensity, and conflicts fought. Furthermore, incarcerations have negative effects on internal conflicts. Justifications for the established tendencies and policy implications are discussed.