Revisiting the greed and grievance explanations for violent internal conflict

Abstract

Two phenomena have been recently utilised to explain conflict onset among rational choice analysts: greed and grievance. The former reflects elite competition over valuable natural resource rents. The latter argues that relative deprivation and the grievance it produces fuels conflict. Neither the presence of greed or grievance is sufficient for the outbreak of violent conflict, something which requires institutional breakdown, which we describe as the failure of the social contract. The degradation of the social contract is more likely in the context of poverty and growth failure. We provide a synthesis of the greed and grievance hypotheses. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unpacking ethnicity: Exploring the underlying mechanisms linking ethnic fractionalization and civil conflict.

“…FUEL EXPORT: The positive relationship between civil war and natural-resource wealthusually proxied by fuel exports -is one of the most robust findings in the empirical literature Le Billon 2001;Murshed and Tadjoeddin 2009;Ross 2003;Snyder and Bhavnani 2005). Theory informs us that the variable proxies opportunity; groups that get access to natural resources thereby likely acquire the financial means to initiate or sustain the rebellion (Ross 2004;Ross 2006, 265).…”

Foreign Investment and State Conflicts in Africa

“…Lack of accountability can increase popular grievances and can motivate rebellion (Humphreys & Weinstein, 2008). Research findings consistently link conflict risk to a state's economic health and income composition (Collier & Hoeffler, 2004;Murshed & Tadjoeddin, 2009), including dependences on aid (Grossman, 1992) and extractive resources (Collier & Hoeffler, 2005). The strongest results suggest that exclusive income flows and distribution generate both grievances (Gurr, 1993;Stewart, 2008) and opportunities (Justino, 2009) to challenge state's power through conflict.…”

On the Micro-Foundations of Contract Versus Conflict With Implications for International Peace-Making

“…Some studies reject the merits of the grievance hypothesis (Collier andHoeffer, 1998, 2004), others stress it (Stewart, 2000;Deininger, 2003;Østby, 2008); while others argue that grievance may coexist with greed (Murshed and Tadjoeddin, 2008). Murshed and Tadjoeddin (2008) provide a comprehensive review on the supporting evidence for each of these hypotheses. More eclectically, Kaldor (2001) suggests that globalization leads to new internal wars that blend political and criminal motives.…”

“…As an extension, the government may use the fiscal system to transfer resources to rebels to "buy" peace and an external third party may contribute resources and/or set incentives for the local parties to commit to peace. Recently, Murshed and Tadjoeddin (2008) argue that the dichotomy between greed (appropriation of rents, see Collier andHoeffler, 1998 and2004) and grievance (deep-rooted injustices, as expounded by Gurr, 1970, and later by Stewart, 2000) in this standard model to explain the origin of conflict should shift into a balance in which both coexist. But it has not yet been analytically explored an endogenous relation between greed and grievance.…”

“…But it has not yet been analytically explored an endogenous relation between greed and grievance. Murshed and Tadjoeddin (2008) argue that either or both greed and grievance may explain the onset of conflict or its duration; neither, however, is sufficient in explaining the ultimate cause of conflict, something which may be attributed to the failure of the mechanisms that peacefully resolve differences (the social contract); see also Addison and Murshed (2001).…”