They are much richer than the people in their home country and so can afford to finance conflict. Above all, they do not have to suffer its consequences because they are not living in the country. Economic Opportunities Also Matter . Conflict is concentrated in countries with little education. The average country in the report's sample had only 45 percent of its young males in secondary education.
Conflict is also more likely in countries in economic decline.
Each percentage point off the growth rate of per capita income raises the risk of conflict by around one percentage point. The ethnic and religious composition of the country also matters. While ethnic dominance is a problem, ethnic and religious diversity does not make a society more dangerous - in fact, it makes it safer. A country which is ethnically and religiously homogenous is surprisingly dangerous - the risk is 23 percent. By comparison, a country with ethnic and religious diversity, equal to the maximum we find in our sample, has a risk of only around 3 percent.