Violence has severe material and psychological consequences. In this article we explore if it also induces hopelessness and pessimistic prospects of upward mobility. For this purpose, we bring together novel data from a sample of individuals residing in violence-torn regions in Colombia,...

Most of the conflict theory papers have used a one-shot game set-up. This does not correspond to reality and is certainly incapable of modeling real conflict situations. We propose a dynamic model with N-agents in an infinite time frame which allow us to adequately analyze conflicts. The dynamic...

Despite a growing body of literature on how environmental degradation can fuel civil war, the reverse effect, namely that of conflict on environmental outcomes, is relatively understudied. From a theoretical point of view this effect is ambiguous, with some forces pointing to pressures for...

This paper measures the impact of crime on firm investment by exploiting variation in kidnappings in Colombia from 1996 to 2002. Our central result is that firms invest less when kidnappings target firms. We also find that aggregate crime rates-homicides, guerrilla attacks, and general...

Between 1998 and 2003 production increases in Brazil and Vietnam drove down the price of coffee by 73 percent in global markets, triggering the international coffee crisis". We examine the effect of this exogenous price shock on Colombia´s civil war, exploring whether politically-motivated...

En Colombia la democracia ha sido el mecanismo normal para acceder al poder. Sin embargo, desde los albores de la república los enfrentamientos bélicos partidistas y los cambios constitucionales fueron una constante. Este trabajo muestra cómo en el siglo XIX en Colombia, los cambios...

This paper provides a thorough economic evaluation of the anti-drug policies implemented in Colombia between 2000 and 2006 under the so-called Plan Colombia. The paper develops a game theory model of the war against illegal drugs in producer countries. We explicitly model illegal drug markets,...

El desplazamiento de población es un fenómeno frecuente en los países inmersos en conflictos internos. El desplazamiento forzoso, además de afectar directamente a la población desplazada, contribuye a deteriorar las condiciones laborales de la población vulnerable en las comunidades...

This article highlights a nefarious effect of elections during civil wars by demonstratingthat they can facilitate the displacement of civilians. This occurs through two main mechanisms: they reveal information about civilians' loyalties directly to armed groups; and they threaten the status quo...

Civilian displacement is a common phenomenon in developing countries confrontedwith internal conflict. While displacement directly affects forced migrants, it also contributes to deteriorating labor conditions of vulnerable groups in receiving communities. For the displaced population, the...