Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth? : Burden Sharing and Effectiveness in Peacekeeping Operations

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of burden sharing in peacekeeping operations (both among contingent troops and in the entirety of the mission) and effectiveness, specifically whether a party chooses to renege on a peace agreement. The author hypothesizes that burden sharing will make it less likely that a party reneges on a peace agreement. The theoretical argument made in the paper is that burden sharing will help in solving the commitment problem inherent to peace agreements, by signaling to the combatants that the peacekeeping mission is there to stay (and won’t be vulnerable to a potential withdrawal from an important contributor), as well as signaling that there is international support for punishing measures against a party who would renege on the agreement. The paper examines all peacekeeping missions that deployed following a peace agreement between 1992-2016 using data on peacekeeping contributions from the United Nations. The hypotheses will however not be supported by the empirics. In fact there is limited evidence for burden sharing among contingent troops to increase the likelihood that a party chooses to renege on a peace agreement, while burden sharing among all personnel (military and civilian) have no effect on the matter.