Publication

This publication presents the case of Somalia as a natural experiment to test the conditions under which order can be provided in a decentralized setting. The authors find that the northern regions of Somalia have maintained peace, while the southern area, especially around the capital Mogadishu, remains strife-torn. The authors offer three hypotheses to explain this difference, namely the availability of rents to the warlords and the impossibility of sharing them, the ability of warlords to externalize the costs of their operations onto civilian populations, and the differential effects of the colonial legacy on traditional institutions in the north and south.