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Marica Valente is a post-doctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. She obtained a PhD in Economics from the Humboldt University of Berlin, after graduating from the Toulouse School of Economics. She is a research affiliate of the DIW Berlin – the German Institute for Economic Research. She is an applied economist interested in microeconometrics with a focus on causal inference and machine learning methods. Her applications are in the fields of environmental economics, conflict economics, labor and migration. Marica’s research on the economic costs of the Donbas war was published in the journal of Defence and Peace Economics, and received media coverage in the LSE Social Policy Blog, Vox Ukraine, and Kyiv Post.
Cost of conflict: The consequences of war in Donbas, Ukraine
War does not end with the last bullet unloaded or agreement papers signed. Wars continue years after peace but in different ways: demining minefields, prosecuting criminals, fighting discrimination of minorities, and steering wartime narratives. Unfortunately, the longer a conflict goes on, the harder it is to achieve peace. This report provides an overview of the consequences (or ‘costs’) of the war in Donbas, Ukraine. It offers a concise overview of the key historical and economic developments surrounding the war, culminating in two major points. First, the main costs in the region arise because of a policy driven humanitarian crisis. Second, Ukrainian society is still polarized on critical issues.
