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

Author Info

  • Manuel Fernández

    (World Bank, Washington, DC)

  • Ana María Ibáñez

    ()

    (Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia)

  • Ximena

    (Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia)

Abstract

This paper studies the use of labour markets to mitigate the impact of violent shocks on households in rural areas in Colombia. We examine changes in the labour supply from on-farm to off-farm labour as a means of coping with the violent shock and the ensuing redistribution of time within households. We also identify the heterogeneous response by gender. Because the incidence of violent shocks is not exogenous, we use instrumental variables which 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 labour to off-farm activities (i.e., 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 nonagricultural work and formal labour markets. Labour markets are not fully absorbing the additional labour supply. Women in particular are unable to find jobs in formal labour markets and men have increased time dedicated to leisure and household chores. Additional off-farm supply is not fully covering drops in consumption. Our results suggest that in rural Colombia, labour 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 labour markets from collapsing and at supporting the recovery of agricultural production.

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Paper provided by Households in Conflict Network in its series HiCN Working Papers with number 103.

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Length: 53 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:hic:wpaper:103
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.hicn.org

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Find related papers by 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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Cited by:

  1. Mayra Buvinic & Monica Das Gupta & Ursula Casabonne & Philip Verwimp, 2012. "Violent Conflict and Gender Inequality: An Overview," Working Papers CEB 12-028, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  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.

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