The Impact of Mobile Phones in the Colombian Kidnapping Industry

In Montenegro & Pedraza (2009) we argued that the staggering spread of mobile phones was critical in the reduction of kidnapping rates in Colombia between 2000 and 2008. Handsets provided citizens a fast and cheap tool to communicate with authorities. In this document, using new available data provided by the telecom companies on base stations antennas by department and a rich data base on municipal cell phone coverage we further test our hypothesis. Using three different sets of empirical models we estimate the impact of cell phone service on kidnapping activity. The evidence suggest that: (i) After the successful introduction of cell phone coverage, departments had an additional decrease in the kidnapping rates. (ii) Initial provision of the service had a larger impact on kidnappings than later additions of coverage. (iii) Cell phone technology had a differential impact on observed kidnappings between rural and urban areas.