2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Frozen Conflicts: the Impact of Internationally Unrecognized States on Post-conflict Recovery
| Project/Area Number |
17K13730
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| Research Institution | Osaka University |
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Principal Investigator |
下松 真之 大阪大学, 国際公共政策研究科, 講師 (40791843)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2017-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | state-building / Nagorno-Karabakh / unrecognized states |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
Among the four cases of frozen conflicts, I have decided to focus on Nagorno-Karabakh because, unlike other cases, its boundary with the parent country (Azerbaijan) was drawn out of the military consideration rather than based on the Soviet-era boundary or local socio-economic conditions. In addition, the war homogenized the ethnic composition of residents on both sides of the border. Thus, the difference in living standards across the border does not depend on whether residents are a minority ethnic group within their respective administrative area.
Estimation reveals that residents in Nagorno-Karabakh have suffered from a lower living standard than their neighbors on the Azerbaijani side since its "independence" in 1994. However, the gap has, if anything, been narrowed in more recent years.
One possible reason for this catch-up in recent years may be the state-building effort by the government of Nagorno-Karabakh, which may be a by-product of the ”Standards Before Status” principle for Kosovo’s recognition as a sovereign state. In 2003, the United Nations set the conditions for Kosovo to be recognized as a state. One such condition is for Kosovo to become a functioning, democratic state. Political scientists (e.g. Kolsto and Blakkisrud 2012) point out this attitude of the international community has promoted the process of de- mocratization in Nagorno-Karabakh. It may also have encouraged its state-building and improved living standards as a result.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
As planned, (1) the data has been collected; (2) the background information has been obtained; and (3) I have estimated the parameters of interest, that is, the differnece in nighttime light intensity across the border of an unrecognized state.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I will check the robustness of my empirical findings by using alternative datasets and different econometric specifications. At the same time, I will develop a model to explain the empirical findings and derive auxiliary hypotheses to test against the data.
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| Causes of Carryover |
ArcGISという、研究に必要な地理情報データを扱うためのソフトウェアを使いこなせるRAが見つからなかった。次年度は、ArcGISを利用して経済学研究をする方法を教える授業を開講して、RAとして雇える人材を育成する。
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