research
Livelihood decisions under the shadow of conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh
- Publication date
- 1 January 2013
- Publisher
- We analyse rural household livelihood and children’s school enrolment decisions in a postconflict
setting in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The innovation of the
paper lies in the fact that we employ information about current subjective perceptions
regarding the possibility of violence in the future and past actual experiences of violence to
explain household economic decision-making. Preferences are endogenous in line with
behavioural economics. Regression results show that heightened subjective perceptions of
future violence and past actual experiences of conflict influences current consumption
increases child enrolment, and encourages risky mixed crop cultivation. The trauma
emanating from past experiences combined with current high perceptions of risk of violence
may induce bolder and riskier behaviour in line with prospect theories of risk. Furthermore, a, post-conflict household-level Phoenix or economic revival factor may be in operation, based
in part on greater within group trust.