| 1. |
- Eriksson Baaz, Maria, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Feeding the Horse : Unofficial Economic Activities within the Police Force in the DR Congo
- 2011
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Ingår i: African Security. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1939-2206 .- 1939-2214. ; December 2011:Issue 4, s. 223-241
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Based on original interview material, this article addresses the organization of unofficial economic activities within the Congolese (Democratic Republic of the Congo) police force. In contrast to dominant assumptions in security sector reform discourses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in which property violations tend to be portrayed as disorganized, ad-hoc activities, following from irregular and insufficient salaries, the article shows how property violations are highly organized with large portions flowing upward in the chain of command. However, the article also argues for the need to go beyond one-dimensional notions of “unrestrained predation” and simplistic dichotomies between civilians (victims) and police/military (predators). Furthermore, it argues for a more contextual analysis in which the core security sector institutions are situated more firmly in the political and economic context in which they operate.
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| 2. |
- Ahlerup, Pelle, 1977, et al.
(författare)
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The Roots of Ethnic Diversity
- 2012
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Ingår i: Journal of Economic Growth. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1381-4338 .- 1573-7020. ; 17:2, s. 71-102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The level of ethnic diversity is believed to have significant consequences for economic and political development within countries. In this article, we provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of the determinants of ethnolinguistic diversity in the world. We introduce a model of cultural and genetic drift where new groups endogenously emerge among peripheral populations in response to an insufficient supply of collective goods. In line with our model, we find that the duration of human settlements since prehistoric times has a strong positive association with current levels of ethnolinguistic diversity. Diversity is further negatively correlated with the length of modern state experience and with distance from the equator. Our results are thus consistent with both “evolutionary” and “constructivist” hypotheses of ethnolinguistic fractionalization.
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| 3. |
- Ambrosi, Aurelie, et al.
(författare)
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Development of heart block in children of SSA/SSB-autoantibody-positive women is associated with maternal age and displays a season-of-birth pattern
- 2012
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Ingår i: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - London : BMJ Publishing Group. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 71:3, s. 334-340
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective Congenital heart block may develop in the fetuses of Ro/SSA-positive and La/SSB-positive mothers. Recurrence rates of only 10-20% despite persisting maternal antibodies indicate that additional factors are critical for the establishment of heart block. The authors investigated the influence of other maternal and fetal factors on heart block development in a Swedish population-based cohort. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanMethods The influence of fetal gender, maternal age, parity and time of birth on heart block development was analysed in 145 families, including Ro/La-positive (n=190) and Ro/La-negative (n=165) pregnancies. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanResults There was a recurrence rate of 12.1% in Ro/La-positive women, and no recurrence in Ro/La-negative women. Fetal gender and parity did not influence the development of heart block in either group. Maternal age in Ro/La-positive pregnancies with a child affected by heart block was, however, significantly higher than in pregnancies resulting in babies without heart block (pandlt;0.05). Seasonal timing of pregnancy influenced the outcome. Gestational susceptibility weeks 18-24 occurring during January-March correlated with a higher proportion of children with heart block and lower vitamin D levels during the same period in a representative sample of Swedish women and a corresponding higher proportion of children with heart block born in the summer (pandlt;0.02). Maternal age or seasonal timing of pregnancy did not affect the outcome in Ro/La-negative pregnancies. less thanbrgreater than less thanbrgreater thanConclusion This study identifies maternal age and seasonal timing of pregnancy as novel risk factors for heart block development in children of Ro/La-positive women. These observations may be useful for counselling when pregnancy is considered.
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| 4. |
- Borcan, Oana, 1987, et al.
(författare)
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State History and Economic Development: Evidence from Six Millennia
- 2014
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- All since the rise of the first civilizations, economic development has been closely intertwined with the evolution of states. In this paper, we contribute to the literature on state history and long-run economic development in four ways. First, we extend and complete the state history index from Bockstette, Chanda and Putterman (2002) by coding the experience with states from the first state origins, 3500 BCE, up until 2000 CE. Second, we explore empirically the relationship between time since transition to agriculture and state age, as well as subsequent state history. Our estimated unconditional correlation implies that a 1000 year earlier transition to agriculture is associated with a 470 years earlier emergence of state institutions. We show how this relationship differs between indigenously- and externally- originated states. Third, we show that the relationship between our extended state history index and current levels of economic development has the shape of an inverted u. The results reflect the fact that countries that were home to the oldest states, such as Iraq, Egypt and China, are poorer today than younger inheritors of their civilizations, such as Germany, Denmark and Japan. This pattern was already in place by 1500 CE and is robust to adjusting for migrations during the colonial era. Finally, we demonstrate a very close relationship between state formation and the adoption of writing.
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| 5. |
- Dalgaard, C. J., et al.
(författare)
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Why Are Rich Countries More Politically Cohesive?
- 2013
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Economics. - : Wiley. - 0347-0520. ; 115:2, s. 423-448
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We document empirically that rich countries are more politically cohesive than poorer countries. In order to explain this regularity, we provide a model where political cohesion is linked to the emergence of a fully functioning market economy. Without market exchange, the welfare of inherently selfish individuals will be mutually independent. Whoever has greater bargaining power will be willing to make decisions that enhance the productivity of their supporters at the expense of other groups in society. If the gains from specialization are sufficiently large, however, a market economy will emerge. From being essentially non-cohesive under self-sufficiency, the political decision-making process becomes cohesive in the market economy, because the welfare of individuals will be mutually interdependent as a result of the exchange of goods.
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| 6. |
- Dimico, Arcangelo, et al.
(författare)
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Origins of the Sicilian Mafia: The Market for Lemons
- 2012
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Since its first appearance in the late 1800s, the origins of the Sicilian mafia have remained a largely unresolved mystery. Both institutional and historical explanations have been proposed in the literature through the years. In this paper, we develop an argument for a market structure-hypothesis, contending that mafia arose in towns where firms made unusually high profits due to imperfect competition. We identify the produc tion of citrus fruits as a sector with very high international demand as well as substantial fixed costs that acted as a barrier to entry in many places and secured high profits in others. We argue that the mafia arose out of the need to protect citrus production from predation by thieves. Using the original data from a parliamentary inquiry in 1881-86 on Sicilian towns, we show that mafia presence is strongly related to the production of orange and lemon. This result contrasts recent work that emphasizes the importance of land reforms and a broadening of property rights as the main reason for the emergence of mafia protection.
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| 7. |
- Olsson, Ola, 1971, et al.
(författare)
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A Western Reversal since the Neolithic? The long-run impact of early agriculture
- 2013
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- While it is widely believed that regions which experienced a transition to Neolithic agriculture early also become institutionally and economically more advanced, many indicators suggest that within the Western agricultural core (including Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia), communities that adopted agriculture early in fact have weaker institutions and poorly functioning economies today. In the current paper, we attempt to integrate both of these trends in a coherent historical framework. Our main argument is that countries that made the transition early also tended to develop autocratic societies with social inequality and pervasive rent seeking, whereas later adopters were more likely to have egalitarian societies with stronger private property rights. These di¤erent institutional trajectories implied a gradual shift of dominance from the early civilizations towards regions in the periphery. We document this relative reversal within the Western core by showing a robust negative correlation between years since transition to agriculture and contemporary levels of income and institutional development, on both the national and the regional level. Our results further indicate that the reversal had become manifest already before the era of European colonization.
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| 8. |
- Olsson, Ola, 1971
(författare)
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After Janjaweed? Socioeconomic Impacts of the Conflict in Darfur
- 2010
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this article, we use a unique database on 542 villages in southwestern Darfur to analyze patterns of population growth and land reallocation that have emerged as a consequence of the recent conflict. Our analysis demonstrates that a displacement from this region alone of more than 300,000 people from three targeted African groups has occurred and that villages have been repopulated by Arab and other African groups. Almost a fourth of all villages have been squatted by newly settled populations. The probability of squatting is shown to be largest in peripheral areas with good access to surface water, where soils are of good quality, and where many households from targeted tribes have fled. A key challenge in post-conflict reconstruction will therefore be the restoration of rights to land.
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