Collateral Damage: The Legacy of the Secret War in Laos

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Riano, Juan Felipe; Caicedo, Felipe Valencia
• 署名单位: Georgetown University; University of British Columbia; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueae004
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 2101-2140
• 关键词: civil conflict; poverty traps; migration; CONSEQUENCES; IMPACT; bombs; WORLD

摘要

We investigate the long-term impact of conflict on economic development, focusing on the US 'Secret War' in Laos (1964-73). Our study employs multiple empirical strategies and data on bombing campaigns, satellite imagery, and development indicators to demonstrate that regions heavily bombed during this period experienced lower economic development almost fifty years after the conflict officially ended. A one-standard-deviation increase in bombing intensity is associated with a 7.1% decrease in GDP per capita. We demonstrate the persistent effects of bombing campaigns on human capital accumulation, structural transformation and migration patterns, stressing the role of unexploded ordnance contamination as the primary mechanism of transmission of these effects.