Laura Saavedra-Lux is a Research Associate at UNU-WIDER. In her work she examines the micro-foundations of political violence, socio-economic development, and the consolidation of peace. She is specifically interested in understanding how ordinary citizens respond to local security, development, and environmental challenges, and when these responses can have a positive effect on political and economic outcomes.
For her research she collects micro-level data using administrative records, geographic information systems (GIS), text-as-data approaches, surveys, and interviews. Her work draws upon strategies for causal inference, spatial econometrics, as well as qualitative analysis of interviews and field work observations.
She is a Fellow of PRIO’s (Peace Research Institute Oslo) Research School on Peace and Conflict. She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Essex and a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Uppsala.
Why do some conflict-affected areas remain an arena of violent contestation of the state, while others transition to peace? I suggest that economic networks developed during intrastate conflict—i.e. wartime economies—give rise to continued pockets of...
Fragile and least developed countries have had their development assistance cut drastically, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation...
We analyse how inward foreign direct investment (FDI) received amid ongoing violence shapes armed conflict. We argue that FDI affects patterns of violence by influencing the state’s counterinsurgency strategy. To prevent disinvestment, governments...
‘Understanding how to sustain peace means understanding conflict itself. Yet conflict and peacebuilding are often addressed separately’ – Patricia...
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