In the last 15 years, civil conflict has gradually become an important subject of study for empirical economists. As a result, conflict research has adopted many empirical methods from mainstream economics. Furthermore, there is now a broad consensus that violent political conflict and economic development are intertwined, and a fast-growing literature studies this relationship with micro-data. At the same time, applied research on conflict is increasingly embracing new empirical methods, such as RCTs, geospatial analysis using high-resolution satellite imagery, machine learning methods, big data applications, and the large-scale digitization of archival resources. Each of these research tools has strengths and limitations and is the subject of ongoing methodological debates.
Call for Papers: Workshop on Home Gardens as a Coping Strategy in Crises and Humanitarian Emergencies
Tilman Brück will host the workshop titled “Home Gardens as a Coping Strategy in Crises and Humanitarian Emergencies: An International, Interdisciplinary Research Workshop” on 2-3 April 2019 in Bonn, Germany. The objective of the workshop is to advance our knowledge of home and school gardens, resilience, food security, and related interventions. The workshop aims to […]
Damir Esenaliev joins ISDC
Dr Damir Esenaliev joined ISDC as a Senior Researcher in January 2019. He brings topical expertise on peace-building, social cohesion, human development, labor markets, inequality, and rural development, and regional expertise in Central Asian and transition economies. Damir also has extensive experience designing and conducting panel data collection and impact evaluations. He will continue his […]
Third Workshop on Measuring Violent Conflict in Household Surveys
ISDC researchers provided training at the third “Measuring Violent Conflict in Household Surveys” workshop, held on 26-30 November in Perugia, Italy, as part of a workshop series organized by the World Bank. The participants included staff from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) in sub-Saharan Africa, including Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. The instructors included staff from […]
Simple statistical tools fail to describe jobs well in developing countries, new research by Damir Esenaliev and Neil Ferguson shows
In November 2018, Social Indicators Research published an original research article by Damir Esenaliev and Neil Ferguson on the relationship between good jobs and personal wellbeing. This study is one of the first conducted in a development context that looks beyond simple measures of job quality suggested by the classical labour supply model. This research […]
ISDC co-hosts the Fourth Annual Life in Kyrgyzstan conference in Bishkek
The Fourth Annual Life in Kyrgyzstan (LiK) conference took place in Bishkek on 17-18 October 2018. The academic event was attended by over 150 participants from 11 countries. The conference was organised by the University of Central Asia’s (UCA) Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA), Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), and ISDC – International Security and Development Center. […]
Evaluator training for the project “Seeds of Resilience”
In October, Ghassan Baliki conducted a baseline training for enumerators as part of the project “Seeds of Resilience: Quasi-Experimental Impact Analysis of an FAO Emergency Intervention in Syria”. The training took place at the Ministry of Agriculture, where about 30 enumerators from 9 Governorates in Syria participated. The data collection took place in November 2018. […]
Ghassan Baliki presenting at the Annual Workshop of the AFK Methods Working Group
Ghassan Baliki presented his working paper Crowd-seeding conflict and peace event data in Syria at the Annual Workshop of the German Association for Peace and Conflict Studies (AFK) Methods Working Group. The conference this year was devoted to papers that explore new qualitative and quantitative data in peace and conflict research. The workshop took place […]
Second Workshop in Measuring Violent Conflict in Household Surveys
ISDC researchers provided training at the second “Measuring Violent Conflict in Household Surveys” workshop, on 10-14 September in Perugia, Italy, as part of a workshop series organised by the World Bank. The participants included staff from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) in Africa and Middle East. The instructors included staff from the World Bank, the International […]
3ie Policy Brief: What works to improve nutrition and food security in the Sahel?
ISDC researchers contributed to the 3ie Policy Brief “What works to improve nutrition and food security in the Sahel?” This brief summarises the main findings and lessons from a synthesis of four 3ie-supported impact evaluations of the World Food Programme’s interventions to improve nutrition and food security outcomes. It offers recommendations to improve operational efficiency […]
New paper on the relationship between food security and violent conflict
Charles Martin-Shields and Wolfgang Stojetz published an article in World Development on the interlinkages between food security and violent conflict. This article emphasizes the endogeneity that characterizes the coupling between food (in)security and violent conflict. The authors make three contributions. First, they define conflict and food security using the standard Uppsala Conflict Data Program and the FAO databases, and illustrate […]
UNICEF Blog on administrative data: Missed opportunity for learning and research in humanitarian emergencies?
Tilman Brück contributed to a blog discussing the strengths and weaknesses of using administrative data collected during emergencies for research on children. The blog was written by researchers from the recent UNICEF Social Protection Workshop. Source: Administrative Data: Missed opportunity for learning and research in humanitarian emergencies? – Evidence for Action
Tilman Brück Speaking to UNICEF on Social Protection in Emergency Situations
The latest UNICEF Research Watch explores the challenges of providing social protection in emergencies and identifies future directions for research. Listen to the interview with Tilman Brück, Founder of the International Security and Research Center, speaking on how the mounting crises are blurring the line between humanitarian and development work. Listen to the interview with Tilman […]
Assets For Alimentation? The Nutritional Impact Of Assets-Based Programming In Niger
A new paper by Tilman Brück, O.M. Dias Botia, N. T. N. Ferguson, J. Ouédraogo and Z. Ziegelhoefer titled “Assets For Alimentation? The Nutritional Impact Of Assets-Based Programming In Niger” has been published in the UNICEF – Innocenti Working Papers Series. A recent strand of aid programming aims to develop household assets by removing the stresses associated […]
Tilman Brück to speak at the World Food Convention 2018
Tilman Brück will speak at the World Food Convention 2018 in a panel discussion “Conflict. Migration. Hunger”. This year’s conference is held on 26 June in Berlin under the heading “How can we feed the world without destroying it?”.
Webinar: Do Jobs Aid Peace? The Impact of Employment Programming on Peace
Tilman Brück and Neil T. N. Ferguson will lead a discussion on “Do Jobs Aid Peace? The Impact of Employment Programming on Peace” as part of the M&E Thursday Talks series organised by DME for Peace. The webinar will take place on Thursday, May 24th at 10:00am EDT.
Call for Papers: Doctoral Workshop of the Development Economics Committee of the German Economic Association
This 2018 Doctoral Workshop of the Development Economics Committee of the German Economic Association (Entwicklungsökonomischer Ausschuss – Verein für Socialpolitik) will be organized by Prof. Tilman Brück at ISDC – International Security and Development Center in Berlin. The workshop will take place on 6 and 7 September 2018. The aims of the Doctoral Workshop 2018 are: to […]
Call for Papers: A Micro-level Perspective on Centrifugal Societies
ISDC – International Security and Development Center, the Institute of Development Studies (UK) and the Households in Conflict Network will host an international research workshop in Berlin, Germany, on 20-21 September 2018 on the micro-level analysis of centrifugal societies. We invite submissions of complete papers or extended abstracts in any relevant discipline by 20 June 2018. […]
Call for Papers: Annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference
Institute of Public Policy and Administration of the University of Central Asia (UCA), Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), and International Security and Development Center (ISDC), are pleased to announce the next fourth annual ‘Life in Kyrgyzstan’ Conference to take place in Bishkek on 17-18 October 2018. The two-day conference will bring together national and international […]
Tilman Brück and Angela Merkel speaking at a panel discussion of the German Catholic Convention
Tilman Brück was a speaker at the panel discussion “Germany in the Changing World: What can be done about conflict spots and aggressive regimes?” of the German Catholic Convention (Katholikentag). Among other speakers of the discussion were Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, and Cardinal Peter Turkson. The discussion took place in Münster on 11 May 2018. Please see […]