Agricultural Outputs and Conflict Displacement: Evidence from a Policy Intervention in Rwanda

In 1997 Rwanda introduced a resettlement policy for refugees displaced during previous conflicts. I exploit geographic variation in the speed of implementation of this policy to investigate the impact of conflict-induced displacement and the resettlement policy on household agricultural output and on skill spillover mechanisms between returnees and stayers. I find that returns to on-farm labor are higher for returnees relative to stayers, although the evidence suggests that the policy contributed little additional effect to this differential. More speculatively, these differentials suggest that, upon return from conflict-induced exile, returnees are more motivated to increase their economic performance. (c) 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved..