Employment and Violence in Fragile States: Evidence from Multi-country RCTs on Public Works Programs | Duke University & ISSER

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We use a cluster-randomized field experiment to study two strategies to promote free democratic expression among rural voters in Liberia’s 2011 general election. The context is one of a fragile state in which destructive legacies of Liberia’s 1989–2003 civil war...

Governments and donors in fragile states often turn to public works programs to create jobs for vulnerable populations with poor employment prospects. Research across five countries and 40,000 households finds that public works programs consistently deliver short-term...

“Natural” disasters and political unrest pose chronic threats to human security. Separately or in tandem, they turn citizens into refugees and displaced people, stretch government capacity, and, increasingly, spark chronic disorder, instability or military conflict....