Subjective Well-Being and Armed Conflict: Evidence from Bosnia-Herzegovina

Abstract

We analyze survey data from Bosnia and Herzegovina collected after the 1992-1995 Bosnian War to answer the following questions: How does individual subjective well-being evolve in the post-conflict period? Does exposure to conflict have an important role in determining one’s post-war experiences? Our identification strategy relies on regional and individual-level variation in exposure to the conflict. Individual war-related trauma has a negative, significant, and lasting impact on subjective well-being. The effect is stronger for those displaced during the war. Municipality-level conflict measures are not significantly associated with subjective well-being once municipality fixed effects are accounted for.

Keywords: Bosnia and Herzegovina, civil war, well-being

JEL Classification: D60, I31, O15, O52, D74