Inter-Ethnic Dynamics in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks: Evidence from the 2015 Baga Massacre
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Alessandro Belmonte
Abstract
This paper investigates the consequences for inter-group conflicts of terrorist attacks. I study the 2015 Baga massacre, a large scale attack conducted by Boko Haram at the far North-East state of Borno, Nigeria, as a quasi-natural experiment and examine a set of attitudes in the aftermath of the event of Christians and Muslims throughout the country. Comparing individuals, outside the region of Borno, interviewed by Afrobarometer immediately after the massacre and those interviewed the days before within same regions and holding fixed a number of individual characteristics, I document that the informational exposure to the event rendered Christians less amiable to neighboring Muslims and Muslims less likely to recognize the legitimacy of the state. Nonetheless, Muslims increased their view of the elections as a device to remove leaders in office, event that took place 2 months later with the election of the challenger, Muhammadu Buhari. My findings indicate that terrorist attacks may generate a relevant and heterogeneous backlash across ethnic groups.
Appendix
Summary statistics of covariates.
| Mean | SD | Min | Max | Count | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 31.91 | 10.78 | 18.00 | 88.00 | 2400 |
| Age (square) | 1134.44 | 872.79 | 324.00 | 7744.00 | 2400 |
| Male | 0.50 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Rural | 0.56 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Unemployed | 0.47 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Education | 4.69 | 3.85 | 0.00 | 9.00 | 2400 |
| Member of Rel. Group | 1.21 | 1.41 | 0.00 | 9.00 | 2400 |
| Male (interviewer) | 0.51 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Same Language | 0.49 | 0.50 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Influenced by Others | 0.03 | 0.16 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 2400 |
| Education of the interviewer | 6.69 | 1.12 | 4.00 | 9.00 | 2400 |
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Articles in the same Issue
- Editorial
- What Post COVID-19? Avoiding a «Twenty-first Century General Crisis»
- Research Articles
- Defence Spending and Unemployment in the USA: Disaggregated Analysis by Gender and Age Groups
- Improving Analyses of Sanctions Busting
- Natural Disasters and Political Disorder: Why Urban Flooding Turns Violent. Applying a Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis
- Inter-Ethnic Dynamics in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks: Evidence from the 2015 Baga Massacre
- Polarization and Local Conflicts in Post Decentralization Indonesia
