Rebels, militias, and criminal groups all govern civilians. Governing strategies adopted by armed groups during civil war likely influence citizens' post-conflict political participation, with consequences for democratic politics. We theorize that an armed group's position relative to the state...

While many recommend electoral democracy as a way to avoid or resolve civil conflict, the empirical record of electoral democracy as an alternative to civil conflict is decidedly mixed. We apply recent work from new organizational economics on the nature of elite pacts to add to both sides of...

Why is it so hard to get opposing elites to work together rather than to seek partisan gains and/or political survival? While the credible commitment problem is widely known, there are a number of lesser known obstacles to building trust and trust worthiness between opposing elites. This article...

In many low and middle-income countries, motorcycles are the most commonly used means of transportation. Over and beyond their many legal uses, motorcycles are also widely used to commit crimes. While motorcycle restrictions to reduce crime have been adopted in at least 14 countries, we do not...

Governments across the developing world deploy their armed forces for domestic policing. Advocates of these policies tout their crime reduction effects, while detractors claim they undermine human rights. We experimentally evaluate a military policing intervention in Cali, Colombia, one of the...

Spanish Abstract: Aunque las restricciones a motocicletas han sido adoptadas en más de 25 ciudades en Colombia para reducir el crimen, no existe evidencia empírica que demuestre su efectividad. Este documento evalúa el impacto de seis de estas medidas. Para identificar el efecto causal de las...

While many recommend electoral democracy as a way to avoid or resolve civil conflict, the empirical record of electoral democracy as an alternative to civil conflict is decidedly mixed. We apply recent work from new organizational economics on the nature of elite pacts to add to both sides of...