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Rural Windfall or a New Resource Curse? Coca, Income, and Civil Conflict in Colombia

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Author Info
Joshua D. Angrist () (MIT, NBER and IZA)
Adriana D. Kugler () (University of Houston, NBER, CEPR and IZA)

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Abstract

Natural and agricultural resources for which there is a substantial black market, such as coca, opium, and diamonds, appear especially likely to be exploited by the parties to a civil conflict. Even legally traded commodities such as oil and timber have been linked to civil war. On the other hand, these resources may also provide one of the few reliable sources of income in the countryside. In this paper, we study the economic and social consequences of a major exogenous shift in the production of one such resource - coca paste - into Colombia, where most coca leaf is now harvested. Our analysis shows that this shift generated only modest economic gains in rural areas, primarily in the form of increased selfemployment earnings and increased labor supply by teenage boys. The results also suggest that the rural areas which saw accelerated coca production subsequently became more violent, while urban areas were affected little. The acceleration in violence is greater in departments (provinces) where there was a pre-coca guerilla presence. Taken together, these findings are consistent with the view that the Colombian civil conflict is fueled by the financial opportunities that coca provides, and that the consequent rent-seeking activity by combatants limits the economic gains from coca cultivation.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2790.

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Length: 60 pages
Date of creation: May 2007
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2790

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Related research
Keywords: rural development; economic shocks; civil war; illegal drugs;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
Q34 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Nonrenewable Resources and Conservation - - - Natural Resources and Domestic and International Conflicts
O13 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Angrist, Joshua & Kugler, Adriana D., 2005. "Rural Windfall or a New Resource Curse? Coca, Income and Civil Conflict in Colombia," CEPR Discussion Papers 5324, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Kugler, Adriana D., 2005. "Wage-shifting effects of severance payments savings accounts in Colombia," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 487-500, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Alberto Abadie, 2004. "Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism," NBER Working Papers 10859, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Massimo Guidolin & Eliana La Ferrara, 2006. "Diamonds are forever, wars are not. Is conflict bad for private firms?," Working Papers 2005-004, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Jairo Núñez & Fabio Sánchez Torres, 2000. "Geography and Economic Development in Colombia: A Municipal Approach," RES Working Papers 3107, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  6. Kugler, Adriana & Kugler, Maurice, 2003. "The Labor Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in a Middle-Income Country: Evidence from Colombia," IZA Discussion Papers 852, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Arvind Subramanian & Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2003. "Addressing the Natural Resource Curse: An Illustration from Nigeria," IMF Working Papers 03/139, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Alan B. Krueger & Jitka Maleckova, 2002. "Education, Poverty, Political Violence and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?," NBER Working Papers 9074, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Carrington, William J, 1996. "The Alaskan Labor Market during the Pipeline Era," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(1), pages 186-218, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Edward Miguel & Shanker Satyanath & Ernest Sergenti, 2004. "Economic Shocks and Civil Conflict: An Instrumental Variables Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(4), pages 725-753, August.
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  12. Ana María Díaz & Fabio Sánchez, 2004. "A Geography Of Illicit Crops (Coca Leaf) And Armed Conflict In Colombia," DOCUMENTOS CEDE 001917, UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES-CEDE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Dan Black & Terra McKinnish & Seth Sanders, 2005. "The Economic Impact Of The Coal Boom And Bust," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(503), pages 449-476, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Steiner, Roberto, 1998. "Colombia's income from the drug trade," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 1013-1031, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Collier, Paul & Hoeffler, Anke & Soderbom, Mans, 2001. "On the duration of civil war," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2681, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Herschel I. Grossman & Daniel Mejia, 2005. "The War Against Drug Producers," NBER Working Papers 11141, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Jeffrey D. Sachs & Andrew M. Warner, 1995. "Natural Resource Abundance and Economic Growth," NBER Working Papers 5398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Ricardo Hausmann & Roberto Rigobon, 2003. "An Alternative Interpretation of the 'Resource Curse': Theory and Policy Implications," NBER Working Papers 9424, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Mauricio Cárdenas Santa María, 2007. "Economic Growth in Colombia: a Reversal of “Fortune”?," WORKING PAPERS SERIES. DOCUMENTOS DE TRABAJO 002403, FEDESARROLLO. [Downloadable!]
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  22. Gaviria, Alejandro, 2000. "Increasing returns and the evolution of violent crime: the case of Colombia," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 1-25, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  23. Halvor Mehlum & Karl Moene & Ragnar Torvik, 2006. "Institutions and the Resource Curse," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 116(508), pages 1-20, 01. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  24. Grossman, Herschel I, 1991. "A General Equilibrium Model of Insurrections," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 912-21, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Joshua D. Angrist & Adriana D. Kugler, 2007. "Rural Windfall or a New Resource Curse? Coca, Income, and Civil Conflict in Colombia," IZA Discussion Papers 2790, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Oeindrila Dube & Juan F. Vargas, 2006. "Resource Curse in Reverse: The Coffee Crisis and Armed Conflict in Colombia," Royal Holloway, University of London: Discussion Papers in Economics 06/05, Department of Economics, Royal Holloway University of London, revised Dec 2006. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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