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Adjusting the Labor Supply to Mitigate Violent Shocks: Evidence from Rural Colombia

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  • Ana María Ibánez L.
  • Manuel Fernández
  • Ximena Peña

Abstract

This paper studies the use of labor markets to mitigate the impact of violent shocks on households in rural areas in Colombia. It examines changes in the labor supply from on-farm to off-farm labor as a means of coping with the violent shock and the ensuing redistribution of time within households. It identifies the heterogeneous response by gender. Because the incidence of violent shocks is not exogenous, the analysis uses instrumental variables that capture several dimensions of the cost of exercising terror. As a response to the violent shocks, households decrease the time spent on on-farm work and increase their supply of labor to off-farm activities (non-agricultural ones). Men carry the bulk of the adjustment in the use of time inasmuch as they supply the most hours to off-farm non-agricultural work and formal labor markets. Labor markets do not fully absorb the additional labor supply. Women in particular are unable to find jobs in formal labor markets and men have increased time dedicated to leisure and household chores. Additional off-farm supply does not fully cover the decrease in consumption. The results suggest that in rural Colombia, labor markets are a limited alternative for coping with violent shocks. Thus, policies in conflict-affected countries should go beyond short-term relief and aim at preventing labor markets from collapsing and at supporting the recovery of agricultural production.

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  • Ana María Ibánez L. & Manuel Fernández & Ximena Peña, 2011. "Adjusting the Labor Supply to Mitigate Violent Shocks: Evidence from Rural Colombia," Documentos CEDE 9246, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:009246
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    Cited by:

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    2. Gafaro, Margarita & Ibanez, Ana Maria & Zarruk, David, 2012. "Equidad y eficiencia rural en Colombia: una discusión de políticas para el acceso a la tierra," Documentos CEDE Series 146477, Universidad de Los Andes, Economics Department.
    3. Laura Jeanet Martínez Rodríguez, 2017. "Impacto de la ola invernal sobre las dinámicas de uso del tiempo de hogares rurales," Documentos CEDE 15603, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    4. Mayra Buvinic & Monica Das Gupta & Ursula Casabonne & Philip Verwimp, 2013. "Violent Conflict and Gender Inequality: An Overview," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 28(1), pages 110-138, February.
    5. Odozi, John Chiwuzulum & Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2021. "Does violent conflict affect the labor supply of farm households? The Nigerian experience," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 50(3), pages 401-435, December.
    6. Loaiza, Osmar & Muñetón, Guberney & Vanegas, Gabriel, 2014. "The relationship between multidimensional poverty and armed conflict: the case of Antioquia, Colombia," MPRA Paper 62462, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Jan 2015.
    7. Ibáñez, Ana María & Muñoz, Juan Carlos & Verwimp, Philip, 2013. "Abandoning Coffee under the Threat of Violence and the Presence of Illicit Crops. Evidence from Colombia," Documentos CEDE Series 161356, Universidad de Los Andes, Economics Department.
    8. Ceren Baysan & Marshall Burke & Felipe González & Solomon Hsiang & Edward Miguel, 2018. "Economic and Non-Economic Factors in Violence: Evidence from Organized Crime, Suicides and Climate in Mexico," NBER Working Papers 24897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Becerra, Oscar & Guerra, José-Alberto, 2023. "Personal safety first: Do workers value safer jobs?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 996-1016.
    10. Lemus Natalia, 2014. "Conflict-Induced Poverty: Evidence from Colombia," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 20(1), pages 113-142, January.
    11. Juan Felipe Mejía Mejía & Hermilson Velasquez Ceballos & Andres Felipe Sanchez Saldarriaga, 2018. "Internal forced displacement and crime: Evidence from Colombia," Documentos de Trabajo CIEF 16450, Universidad EAFIT.
    12. Duque, Valentina, 2019. "Violence and Children’s Education: Evidence from Administrative Data," Working Papers 2019-16, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    13. Patricia Justino & Olga Shemyakina, 2012. "Remittances and labor supply in post-conflict Tajikistan," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-28, December.
    14. German Orbegozo, 2021. "Consequences of violence against social leaders in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 19320, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    15. Piero Ronzani & Wolfgang Stojetz & Carlo Azzarri & Gianluigi Nico & Erdgin Mane & Tilman Brück, 2024. "Armed conflict and gendered participation in agrifood systems: Survey evidence from 29 African countries," HiCN Working Papers 409, Households in Conflict Network.
    16. Aeggarchat Sirisankanan, 2023. "Natural circumstances and farm labor supply adjustment: the response of the farm labor supply to permanent and transitory natural events," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(9), pages 9935-9961, September.
    17. Isabelle Joumard & Juliana Londoño Vélez, 2013. "Income Inequality and Poverty in Colombia - Part 1. The Role of the Labour Market," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1036, OECD Publishing.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Conflict; labor markets; developing economies; instrumental variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General

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