Miranda I. Lambert

Job Market Paper

"War, Abduction, and Household Violence: Evidence from Uganda"

Abstract: This paper examines the long-term impact of childhood exposure to violence on intimate partner violence (IPV) in Northern Uganda. I focus on the abduction of children by the Lord's Resistance Army during the conflict with the Ugandan government to investigate how individuals' experiences of childhood trauma interact with their spouses' trauma to shape patterns of IPV in adulthood. I utilize survey and lab-in-the-field data from 428 abducted or not abducted individuals who are married to a spouse who was abducted or not abducted as a child. This leads to a sample of 214 couples where one, both, or neither partner was abducted. Exploiting the quasi-random nature of the abductions and demonstrating that sorting into marriage is independent of abduction, I analyze patterns of IPV across marriage types to examine the effects of early-life trauma on adult relationships. My findings reveal gendered patterns. While women are more likely to be victims of IPV, her abduction status does not predict victimization unless considered alongside her husband's history. Abducted women are more at risk of physical IPV when married to non-abducted men. This risk is mitigated when their spouse was abducted. In contrast, men who were abducted as children face a higher likelihood of experiencing verbal IPV in adulthood, regardless of their partner's abduction. The study uncovers intergenerational effects: mothers in households where a parent was abducted are likely to exhibit violent behavior toward children. To explore mechanisms, I incorporate measures of mental health, social status, behavioral preferences from survey data and lab-in-the-field games.

Publication

“Mothers, Fathers, and Others: Competition and Cooperation in the Aftermath of Conflict” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Joint with A. Cassar (University of San Francisco), P. A. Grosjean (University of New South Wales) and F. Jamal Khan (University of New South Wales).

Published Version.

Abstract

We investigate the possibility that women and men have distinct behavioral reactions to victimization. We conducted an experiment to elicit preferences for in-group egalitarianism and individual competitiveness for a random sample of 751 individuals in Sierra Leone (aged 18–85) to contrast the behavioral consequences of victimization during the 1991–2003 civil war across sex and parental status. Our results show that mothers and fathers display the highest level of cooperation, yet conflict exposure does not affect them. Egalitarianism increases after victimization only among non-parents, with an effect stronger for males, who are the least egalitarian to start with. Conflict exposure tames everyone's competitive tendencies, but has the opposite effect for mothers, the least competitive group in the absence of conflict. Measures of competitiveness among 191 parents from Colombia show a similar pattern. Our results suggests that conflict, by closing sex and parental gaps in behavior, may prime individuals toward strategies that either benefit the group or the individual, depending on sex and parental role.

Working Papers

“The Gender Leadership Gap in Competitive and Cooperative Institutions”. Joint with with C. Eckel (Texas A&M University), L. Gangadharan (Monash University), P. Grossman (Monash University), and N. Xue (Vienna University of Economics and Business).

Submitted.

Link to paper.

Abstract

Women are believed to shy away from competitive environments and prefer cooperative environments. This study investigates the impact of the institutional setting on the gender leadership gap. We design an experiment using a modified Centipede game to test whether leaders can foster cooperation among team members under varying incentive systems: competitive ("winner takes all") versus cooperative (equal earnings distribution). The leader, whose gender is revealed, sends a message providing strategic advice to their group. Our findings show that male and female leaders are similarly effective in enhancing efficiency and are anticipated to perform equivalently. However, in a competitive context, a gender gap emerges: Female leaders receive lower evaluations than male leaders for offering identical advice. Interestingly, this bias disappears in a cooperative context, suggesting that the congruence of the environment with gender stereotypes has important implications for leadership evaluations. Notably, men consistently demonstrate a higher propensity to lead, regardless of the surrounding context.

"From Childhood Abduction to Adulthood: Enduring Consequences for Women in Uganda" Joint with with A. Cassar (U of San Francisco), E. Kandpal (Center for Global Development), C. Mbabazi (Makerere University) and D. Serra (Texas A&M University).

Submitted. (Draft Available Upon Request). R&R at Journal of Development Economics.

Abstract

During violent conflicts, women and children often become targets of violence, including physical abuse, sexual violence, and forced displacement. Between the mid-80s and the mid-2000s the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted over 50,000 people in Northern Uganda, including more than 25,000 children. Our study involves a sample of nearly 550 women in Northern Uganda, with over half of them having experienced abduction during childhood. Through a combination of survey data and incentivized behavioral games, we leverage the quasi-random nature of abductions to evaluate the long-term (about 20 years later) impact of the childhood abduction on women's mental health (depression and severe stress), socio-economic outcomes, and preferences. Girls and women are disproportionately likely to experience forced displacement and physical and sexual violence during armed conflicts. Between the mid-1980s and the mid-2000s, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abducted over 50,000 people in Northern Uganda, including more than 25,000 children. We study approximately 550 women in Northern Uganda, half of whom were abducted either before or during adolescence. Leveraging the previously documented plausible exogeneity of LRA abductions with survey data and incentivized behavioral games, we assess the long-term effects of childhood abduction on a range of socioeconomic and mental health outcomes, as well as on behavioral traits and preferences. Childhood abduction reduces educational attainment but has little lasting impact on economic activity, marriage outcomes, or risk tolerance. In contrast, twenty years after the conflict ended, formerly abducted women still exhibit significantly higher rates of depression and perceived stress, heightened stress responses, diminished social support and prosociality, but greater grit.

Works in Progress

"Beyond the Text: Understanding Opt-Out, Dosage, and Response Disparities in an SMS Intervention". Paper writing phase. Joint with K. Cortes (Texas A&M University), M. Gentry (Texas A&M University), and B. Holzman (Texas A&M University).

"Measuring the Impact of Male Unemployment on Intrafamily Outcomes". Data Analysis Phase. Joint with M. Bullard (Texas A&M University) and M. Eaton (Clemson University)

“Thriving Together: The Impact of Peer Support and Mental Health Counseling on Victimized Women in Northern Uganda”. Data Analysis Phase. Joint with A. Cassar (U of San Francisco), E. Kendpal (Center for Global Development), C. Mbabazi (Mekerere University) and D. Serra (Texas A&M University). Preregistration

“Gender Differences in the Job Market for Field Enumerators: Evidence from Survey, Firm Data, and a Recruitment Experiment in Uganda.”

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