José De Sousa gave a presentation on September 23, 2021 at the Paris Sorbonne Sustainable Development Seminar (PSSD). He presented Maritime Piracy and Local Development: is Robin Hood also a Pirate?” co-authored with  Marion Mercier (CNRS-PSL-DIAL) .
Abstract: Some narratives suggest that maritime piracy, by bringing in new resources, promotes local development. We challenge this Robin Hood effect. Piracy may perpetuate a cycle of violence and attacks are potentially endogenous to economic development. To tackle endogeneity concerns, we use an instrumental variable approach based on temporary income shocks and a measure of coastal escarpment. We find evidence of a feasibility mechanism, such that extortion relaxes financing constraints and makes it easier to sustain piracy, and we find no support for the Robin Hood narrative.