Prof. Michael Albertus: Community Recongnition and Violence in Peru's Internal

Many indigenous communities around the world that have reclaimed land access after colonial and post-colonial dispossession experience considerable property rights insecurity. This paper examines how policies to secure communal property rights through the state recognition of indigenous territorial claims impacts inter- and intra-communal violence. It does so in the context of Peru, where the state recognized thousands of indigenous community land claims during a civil war between 1980 and 2000. Using a staggered difference in difference research design and the first spatial mapping of conflict events to individual communities, I find that community recognition reduced wartime violence. The results span civilian, state, and guerrilla violence, indicating a range of pacifying effects. The findings are consistent with literature on the negative consequences of property rights uncertainty, and provide insights to guide the design of future policies that seek to recognize indigenous communities and secure their territorial land claims.