Why Do Some Civil Wars Last So Much Longer Than Others?

The paper notes that the reason the number of ongoing civil wars were increasing up to 1994 were not an increase in the number of wars that began, but that wars were ending at a slower rate than they were starting. The paper demonstrates that 'sons of the soil' wars and wars where the rebel groups have access to valuable contraband are considerably more durable than other types. The paper presents a game theoretical model that helps explaining the empirical results.