Economics and Genocide: Choices and Consequences

Brauer, Jurgen and Anderton, Charles H. (2014): Economics and Genocide: Choices and Consequences.

Abstract

Professional economists rarely write on questions of genocide. This surprises because a workhorse tool of the economics discipline concerns the analysis of behavior that takes place under constraints. All parties in genocide—perpetrators, victims, and third parties—face cost and resource constraints subject to which they seek to achieve their objectives, be it killing, surviving, or intervening. This essay characterizes and illustrates economic thinking about objectives, costs, and resources for each of the three groups. There is potentially much that economics can contribute to genocide studies and, vice versa, much that genocide scholars may learn from welcoming an economic perspective.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Genocide, economics, constrained optimization, rational choice
• Subjects: A - General Economics and Teaching > A1 - General Economics > A12 - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines; D - Microeconomics > D0 - General > D00 - General; D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D74 - Conflict ; Conflict Resolution ; Alliances ; Revolutions; H - Public Economics > H8 - Miscellaneous Issues > H87 - International Fiscal Issues ; International Public Goods

References

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