Three essays on conflicts, weather shocks and agriculture

This thesis inspects the complex and often antithetical nexus between conflicts and socioeconomic development. On one hand, conflict and violence can serve as catalysts for significant human phenomena, particularly migration. On the other hand, environmental, regional,and economic conditions can influence the likelihood of conflict. Understanding these dynamics is of crucial importance to policy. The empirical analysis presented in this thesis contributes to the literature by providing novel evidence on the role of conflict as an additional driver of migration in food-insecure contexts that are vulnerable to weather shocks. Furthermore, it explores the impact of asymmetric gains from agricultural production surpluses and crop price volatility on political violence. This thesis is structured into three essays, each presented as a separate chapter, analyzing the role of conflict as a determinant of socioeconomic development. The first chapter investigates local levels of violence as an additional driving force of internal migration in contexts of food deprivation induced by weather shocks. The subsequent chapters examine conflict as an outcome of the asymmetric distribution of gains from agricultural production and price fluctuations. By offering new empirical insights, this thesis contributes to multiple strands of literature, addressing the role of conflict from different perspectives. Each chapter is presented in the form of a self-contained research article.