Citation

Rogall T. Am. Econ. Rev. 2021; 111(1): 41-72.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, American Economic Association)

DOI

10.1257/aer.20160999

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Do political elites use armed groups to foster civilian participation in genocidal violence? Are armed groups employed strategically? How do they mobilize civilians? I investigate these questions using data from the Rwandan Genocide. To establish causality, I exploit exogenous variation in armed groups' transport costs induced by weather fluctuations: the shortest distance of each village to the main road interacted with rainfall along the dirt tracks between main road and village. I find (i) 1 additional armed-group member resulted in 7.3 more civilian perpetrators; (ii) armed-group leaders employed their men strategically; and (iii) armed groups invoked civilians' obedience.

Language: en

Keywords

Alliances; Conflict Resolution; Global Warming; Institutional Arrangements, Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior, Conflict; Revolutions, Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy