Measuring Intermediate Outcomes of Liberia’s Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Program

Abstract

This paper re-analyzes data from a survey of ex-combatants in Liberia conducted in, to estimate the effect of Liberia’s Demobilization, Disarmament, Rehabilitation and Reintegration program on participants’ income and employment status. As program completion was not random, these estimates are biased. I use propensity score matching to obtain a more precise estimate. The results indicate a higher employment rate for those who complete the program, although there is consistently no effect on income. These results have implications for both evaluating the outcomes in Liberia and the integrated approach to ex-combatant reintegration that the program embodied.

Keywords:

• Civil war
• Vocational training
• Postconflict reintegration

JEL Codes:

• D74
• O15
• O17

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank James Pugel for generously providing access to data.

Notes

¹The results are robust to including observations outside the area of common support.