In addition, the article considers how the location of resources relative to the conflict zone affects the severity of the conflict. [...] NATURAL RESOURCES AND THE SEVERITY OF CONFLICT The variation in conflict severity is likely to depend on various factors, including the size of the state army and the rebel force, the relative capability of the two, and the military 5 . [...] For the dependent variables in the analysis, I use the total number of combat deaths accumulated during the conflict and the average daily death rate over the whole conflict (intensity).viii Control variables There is a profound lack of theory in the studies on conflict severity. [...] As the main objective of this article is to determine the total effect of hydrocarbon and gemstone production and drug cultivation on the severity of armed civil conflict, it would be inaccurate to include the length of conflict in the analysis. [...] Together, these two facts – the extremely high value of oil and gas production and the forgone revenue flows during the conflict – are likely to provide a greater incentive to invest in winning the conflict (in the form of machinery, weaponry and numbers of rebels/soldiers) than would otherwise be the case.
- Pages
- 31
- Published in
- Norway
