Conference Paper
Conflict Intensity and Entrepreneurial Intentions: Evidence from Iraqi Regions
No.
ERF32AC_67
Publisher
ERF
Date
May, 2026
Topic
L2. Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
O5. Economywide Country Studies
D7. Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
This study examines the relationship between conflict events, conflict-related fatalities, and entrepreneurial intentions in Iraq, one of the most war-affected countries over the past four decades and a context largely overlooked in the entrepreneurship literature. By combining regional-level data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) with individual-level data from the World Values Survey (WVS), we find that, controlling for other factors, entrepreneurial intentions are significantly lower in regions experiencing higher levels of conflict and fatalities. This finding is robust across multiple estimation methods and model specifications. Furthermore, our results indicate that financially stable individuals show a sharper decline in entrepreneurial intentions in response to conflict compared to financially vulnerable individuals.
Research Fellows
Hassan Gholipour
Associate Professor of Property, School of Business,...
Research Fellows
Georges Harb
Associate Professor of Economics, Adnan Kassar School...
Research Fellows
Mohammad Reza Farzanegan
Professor in Economics of the Middle East,...