Four relationships between war and commerce -- The effect of conquest on private property and contract rights -- The effect of occupation on private property and contract rights -- The creative tension between commercial freedom and belligerent rights -- War, investment and international law --...

I examine the conditions under which trade can support peaceful coexistence and prosperity when particular social and ethnic groups are cheap targets of violence. A simple theoretical framework reveals that for a broad set of cases, while inter-group competition generates incentives for...