Democratic Fragility and Conflict

About

Democracies are under threat around the world, with political polarization and conflict within democratic societies seen as a major reason for why. This initiative examines the causes for democratic fragility and conflict and adopts an interdisciplinary approach to finding and testing new potential solutions to these crucial issues.

RESEARCH

Our research seeks to identify new ideas from economics, finance and organizations that we can use to mitigate conflict and political polarization.

A fundamental challenge facing many developing societies is to reduce the central role of violence and its threat in shaping politics and economic under-performance. A common thread of our research is to understand the effectiveness of organizations and innovations that societies have developed to address the problem of violence in the past and to seek new lessons for solving such political economy challenges in contemporary developing societies.

Selected Publications

Working Papers

Newer versions of these working papers may be available: please email Saumitra Jha if you are interested.

Heroes and Villains, CEPR Discussion Paper, October 2021, with Julia Cage, Anna Dagorret, and Pauline Grosjean, resubmitted to the American Economic Review
- Coverage: The Economist, AOC, VoxEU. And a talk at the Europe Center.
A Theory of Community Formation and Social Hierarchy, Stanford GSB Research Paper 3467, revised December 2021, with Susan Athey and Emilio Calvano, revision requested at the Journal of the European Economic Association
Trading Stocks Builds Financial Confidence and Compresses the Gender Gap, Stanford GSB Research Paper 3673, revised November 2021, with Moses Shayo, revision requested at the Economic Journal.
- Survey Instruments
- A Global Financial Literacy Education Center FinLit Talk
Markets under Siege: How Differences in Political Beliefs can move Financial Markets, Stanford GSB Research Paper 4012, February 2022, with Peter Koudijs and Marcos Salgado
Conquered but Not Vanquished: Complementarities and Indigenous Entrepreneurs in the Shadow of Violence, June 2016, with Alberto Diaz-Cayeros
Forging a Non-Violent Mass Movement: Economic Shocks and Organizational Innovations in India’s Struggle for Democracy, October 2018, with Rikhil Bhavnani
- Coverage: Stanford Report

Business Cases

Teaching notes for each of these cases are available — please email Saumitra Jha.

International Political Strategy and the Climate Crisis: The CAFE Clash, with Vyoma Jha, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case P-101, 2020
Navigating Local Politics: Zum in Coronado, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case P-100, 2020
Overcoming Political Opposition: CNG Mandates in Delhi, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case P-79A-C, November 2012
Managing Local Political Risk: Parking the Tata Nano, with Debra Schifrin, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case P-78A-C, March 2012
Jet Airways (A): Weathering Turbulence, and Jet Airways (B): A Bumpy Landing with Nathan T. Blair, Stanford Graduate School of Business Case P-60A-B, February 2009

Op-eds and Stanford Press Coverage

MEDIA

Investing in Peace

Nonviolence: Lessons from India's Independence Struggle

Trading Stocks Increases Financial Literacy and Compresses the Confidence Gender Gap

People

Program Manager

Saumitra Jha is is an associate professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a senior fellow at FSI, and convenes the Stanford Conflict and Polarization Lab. He is also a professor, by courtesy, of the Stanford Departments of Economics and of Political Science, and a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

Jha's research focuses on understanding the effectiveness of organizations and innovations that societies have developed to address the problems of violence and political risk in the past and to develop new lessons for contemporary policy.

Full Biography