Social Structure and Conflict: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa Jacob Moscona*† M.I.T. Nathan Nunn*‡ Harvard University, NBER and BREAD James A. Robinson*§ University of Chicago, NBER, and BREAD 30 September 2017 Abstract: We test the long-standing hypothesis that ethnic groups that are organized around ‘segmentary lineages’ are more prone to conflict and civil war. Ethnographic accounts suggest that in segmen- tary lineage societies, which are characterized by strong allegiances to distant relatives, individuals are obligated to come to the defense of fellow lineage members when they become involved in conflicts. As a consequence, small disagreements often escalate to larger-scale conflicts involving many individuals. We test for a relationship be- tween segmentary lineage organization and conflict today across 145 African ethnic groups for which data are available. Using a number of estimation strategies, including an RD design at ethnic boundaries, we find evidence that segmentary lineage societies experience significantly more conflict today. In addition, we also find that for segmentary lineage societies, adverse weather shocks are more likely to result in conflict than for non-segmentary lineage societies. Key words: Conflict, Civil War, Social Structure, Segmentary Lineage, Kinship jel classification: D74,O55,Z1. *For helpful feedback and comments, the authors thank Jean Ensminger, Francisco Gallego, Joseph Henrich, and Sara Lowes, as well as seminar participants at UC Berkeley, Brown, Chicago Harris, UC Irvine, Princeton, Stanford, and various conferences. We thank Ariel Gomez of excellent research assistance. †Department of Economics, M.I.T., 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, ma 02142, U.S.A. (e-mail:
[email protected]; website: http://economics.mit.edu/graduate/directory).