From Displacement to Resilience: Aid, Economic Recovery, and Social Cohesion in Post-War Iraq

Livelihoods programs in displacement-affected communities are designed to stimulate economic activity, but their effects on social cohesion are ambiguous. This project, in partnership with IOM, studies the effects of an entrepreneur support program that offers a one-time grant of $2,000 – approximately 90 percent of participants' average annual income – to hosts, returnees, and IDPs in displacement-affected communities in Iraq. We ask two research questions. The first is whether and how economic recovery programs improve or erode social cohesion between hosts, returnees, and IDPs in post-conflict environments. To examine mechanisms linking economic and social inclusion, we will study impacts on interdependence, economic opportunity, inequalities and grievances, intergroup contact, and competition for resources and services. The second research question asks how the livelihoods program indirectly affects community members proximate to beneficiaries through social or economic ties. By sampling entrepreneurs’ social and economic networks and mapping exposure to the program through network linkages, we will identify indirect effects of the program on a broader population of community members. Overall, the study will provide evidence on the multiple dimensions through which recovery programming affects economic and social well-being among displacement-affected communities.