Contents:
1. Welcome to the ninth MICROCON Newsletter
2. Events
    MICROCON Summer School 2010 - Advanced Research Methods
3. Research findings
    MICROCON researchers find that disease was the biggest killer in Darfur
4. Publications
    Research Working Papers
5. News from MICROCON partners
    International Research Workshop on The Behavioural and Cultural Foundations and Consequences of Violence
    Vacancy announcement: Junior Research Fellow

Dear Colleague,

This is the ninth MICROCON Newsletter. It contains news on our events, research findings, publications and news from MICROCON partners.

If you haven't done so already, you can also sign up for alerts of publications in your area of interest as soon as they are published.

2. Events

MICROCON Summer School 2010 - Advanced Research Methods

11-18 July, 2010 - Olympia, Greece

MICROCON's second summer school is now open for applications. It will offer participants insights into the design of field research, its implementation, and different tools to analyze and interpret results in conflict affected contexts. Advanced quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods used in different disciplines will be presented and illustrated with examples from a number of geographic contexts. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss and improve their own work throughout the course. At the end of the course, participants will have a sound grasp of a range of different methodological and analytic techniques, and understand how to apply them to their own research projects.

The course will be organised in collaboration with the Program on Order, Conflict and Violence at Yale University, the University of Macedonia and the Navarino Network.

The deadline for applications is 9 April. Early applications are strongly recommended. More information.

3. Research findings

MICROCON researchers find that disease was the biggest killer in Darfur

A study by MICROCON researchers Olivier Degomme and Debarati Guha-Sapir has found that about 300,000 people died due to the six-year Darfur conflict, and disease is estimated to have caused at least 80 per cent of these deaths.

The study covered the period from 2003-2008, and whilst there was a significant fall in mortality from early 2004 to the end of 2008, the reduction was more pronounced in violence-related mortality than in diarrhoea-related mortality. This result is probably associated with forced displacement of large numbers of people, as the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in which displaced people live increase the risk of death from contagious diseases.

A further, and important, finding of the paper is that the mortality rate increased when there was a lower ratio of humanitarian workers to displaced people. Adequate humanitarian assistance to prevent and treat potentially fatal diseases is therefore vital, and the expulsion of non-governmental organisations from Darfur is likely to have serious consequences.

The study was published in the Lancet, with a more detailed version due to be published by MICROCON later this year.

......................................................................................................................................................................

4. Publications

Research Working Papers
RWP 21: Does Conflict affect Preferences? Results from Field Experiments in Burundi - Maarten Voors, Eleonora Nillesen, Philip Verwimp, Erwin Bulte, Robert Lensink, and Daan van Soest

This paper uses experimental data from 35 randomly selected communities in Burundi to examine the impact of exposure to conflict on social-, risk- and time preferences. These types of preferences are important as they determine people’s propensity to invest and their ability to overcome social dilemmas, so that changes therein foster or hinder economic growth. The authors find that conflict affects preferences. Individuals that have been exposed to greater levels of violence display more altruistic behavior towards their neighbors, are more risk seeking, and have higher discount rates. Adverse, but temporary, shocks can thus alter savings and investments decisions, and potentially have long-run consequences.

......................................................................................................................................................................

5. News from MICROCON partners

International Research Workshop on The Behavioural and Cultural Foundations and Consequences of Violence
The Households in Conflict Network and ICS Lisbon are organising an International Research Workshop on The Behavioural and Cultural Foundations and Consequences of Violence, on 7-8th June 2010. The Call for Papers is now available. The deadline for submissions is 28 February.

Vacancy announcement: Junior Research Fellow
Philip Verwimp is looking for a Junior Research Fellow to work with him on a World Bank funded project on Gender and Conflict. The candidate should be an advanced PhD student or a recent post-Doctoral researcher in Economics or Demography. For more details, download the vacancy announcement. The deadline for applications is 22 February.

......................................................................................................................................................................