UNU-WIDER Impact of Conflict and Fragility on Households: A Conceptual Framework with Reference to Widows

This paper analyses the transmission channels through which mass violent conflict and post-conflict fragility affect households. It does so by pointing out how a fragile environment impairs a household’s core functions, boundaries, and its choice of income generating activities. Furthermore, it proposes a tool to analyse the impact of conflict and fragility on groups of households. The paper advances our understanding of mass violent conflict and fragility and contributes to the literature on the economics of conflict and development in three ways: first, it identifies the important gaps in the current micro level literature on conflict. Second, it provides a consistent and systematic framework to address these gaps. Third, it applies the framework to war widows, one example of a conflict affected and often forgotten group that typically amounts to a large population share in post-conflict societies.