Honorary Research Fellow
Phillip.Nelson@warwick.ac.ukLink opens in a new window

ResearchGate ProfileLink opens in a new window

Phillip Nelson is a Senior Research Officer at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA). Before this, he was Research Officer at Propertymark, where projects included landlord investment behaviour, the value of letting agents in raising industry standards, and anti-money laundering legislative effectiveness.

He was formerly employed as a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, working on the ERC funded project - EXPOVIBELink opens in a new window. He holds an undergraduate MA in Economics and International Relations from the University of St Andrews and an MSocSci in Peace and Conflict from Uppsala University, Sweden. He was awarded his PhD from the University of Essex in 2019 using advanced quantitative methods to examine why people fight in rebellion and how natural resources can be used by militias, not just rebel groups, to fund their operations. His previous research has been both cross-national and sub-national, with a focus on Colombia. During his PhD, Phillip spent three months as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Universidad del Rosario in Bogotá.

Phillip has received funding for his research from the Economic and Social Research Council as well as the Research Development Fund at Warwick university. He is a member of the Conflict Research Society, and the Interdisciplinary Peace and Conflict Research Network. He also holds a diploma from the Research School on Peace and Conflict, based at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

Phillip's research interests include housing, civil conflict, public support for war, armed actor recruitment, and militia strategy.

Pronouns: he/him

Publications

Nelson, Phillip. "Farming to fighting: How shifting agricultural incomes only impact the most powerful rebel group."Link opens in a new window Civil Wars.Link opens in a new window Find the replication data hereLink opens in a new window.

Nelson, Phillip and Marina G. Petrova. 2023. "The other dark side of pro-government militias: deterring nonviolent action and spoiling prospects for peace during civil wars." Studies in Conflict and Terrorism.Link opens in a new window Find the replication data hereLink opens in a new window.

Kibris, Arzu and Phillip Nelson. 2022. "Female income generation and intimate partner violence: Evidence from a representative survey in Turkey." Journal of International Development.Link opens in a new window

Nelson, Phillip and Marina G. Petrova. 2022. "Research Assistants: Scientific credit and recognised authorship." Learned Publishing.Link opens in a new window

Nelson, Phillip. 2019. "The Indivisible Hand of Peace? Consumption Opportunities and Civil War." Defence and Peace Economics.Link opens in a new window Find the replication data hereLink opens in a new window.

Blog Pieces

2022. "The reality for tenants when landlords sell up." The Negotiator.

2022. "Nigeria's New Petroleum Industry Act Could Entrench Injustices in Oil host Communities." WICID Think Development Blog.Link opens in a new window

2021. "Mis-/disinformation, social media censorship, and divided societies." WICID Think Development Blog.Link opens in a new window

Policy Briefs

2022. "Nigeria's New Oil Community Development Funds: Four steps needed to ensure positive impact." Warwick Social Sciences Policy Briefings.Link opens in a new window

Policy Reports

2022. The impact of short-term/holiday lets on UK housing.Link opens in a new window

2023. Leasehold 2023: Has anything changed?Link opens in a new window

Papers Under Review

Abbs, Luke, Bariş Ari, and Phillip Nelson. "Do militia groups obscure the zone of agreement in peace negotiations?"

Brandsch, Jürgen, Phillip Nelson, and Lamis Saleh. "The availability of small arms and militia violence in Africa."

Working Papers

Zavoli, Ilaria and Phillip Nelson, "Anti-money laundering practices in the UK real estate market: assessing business approaches through auditing forms".

Borbely, Daniel and Phillip Nelson, "Landlord investment expectations under varying policy prescriptions".

Kibris, Arzu and Phillip Nelson, "Individual exposure to armed conflict and entrepreneurship"Link opens in a new window.

Nelson, Phillip, "What's in a name? Militias and the need for further systematic research"Link opens in a new window.