Causes and consequences of civil strife: micro-level evidence from Uganda

To bridge the gap between case studies and highly aggregatecross-country analyses of civil unrest, we use data from Ugandato explore determinants of civil strife (as contrasted to theftand physical violence) at the community level, as well as thepotentially differential impact of these variables on investmentand non-agricultural enterprise formation at the household level.We find that distance from infrastructure (a proxy for scarcityof economic opportunities and government investment), assetinequality (social tension), presence of cash crops (expropriablewealth), and lower levels of human capital (ability to takeadvantage of opportunities in the ‘regular’ economy)all increase the propensity for civil strife. Furthermore, civilstrife, in marked contrast to violence and theft, reduces investmentand non-agricultural enterprise startups.