Publications


Abstract: We exploit the exogenous variation arising from the drug interdiction policy of the USA in the 1990s to estimate the impact of high-intensity conflict on unemployment in Colombia. Using the synthetic control method, we find that between 1994 and 2014, the high-intensity armed conflict raised unemployment rates in Colombia by about 4.3 percentage points, almost half of the pre-intervention average of 10 percent. When we compare the evolution of the unemployment rate of women in Colombia to that of women in other Latin American countries, the estimated impact of the high-intensity armed conflict appears to be slightly larger than when the same comparison is done for men. Our empirical exercises in this paper contribute to quantifying the welfare effects of violence and conflict via the labor market. Our findings not only suggest that the high-intensity conflict had placed Colombia’s economy at a regional disadvantage in Latin America but also highlight the welfare effects of violence which policymakers can help to mitigate. 


Keywords: High-intensity conflict, unemployment rate, Colombia, drug interdiction, synthetic control 

JEL Codes: O10, O54, D74, J6



Abstract: This study assesses the effects of illegal armed groups on expenditures made by municipal governments in Colombia between 2000 and 2013. Specifically, the study examines how the presence of illegal armed groups seems to affect the level of municipal expenditures, while distinguishing between capital investments and current social spending. Limits on political participation and institutional weaknesses helped to propagate the violence that disrupted Colombia in the 1970s and 1980s. Searching for solutions, Colombia transferred important decision-making responsibilities from the central government to regional and local governments. Paradoxically this decentralization opened an opportunity for illegal armed groups to play meaningful roles in local political and economic life, eventually taking control over local resources in several municipalities. To assess the role of these non-state armed groups in municipal resource allocation, our empirical analysis exploits annual data on municipal expenditures and local armed conflict. Empirical results suggest a differentiated impact on capital investments and social spending. These results are robust to multiple treatment framings and definitions.


Keywords: Colombia, conflict, guerrilla, paramilitary, municipal investment, social expenditures

 JEL Codes: H72, H75, H76, O17 (Full Document)



Abstract: While faculty of colour tend to receive lower course evaluations, it is unclear whether the lack of face-to-face interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic affected them differently. We examine this question using course-level data from a large US university. Estimates from our difference-in-differences models show that non-white faculty suffered a larger decline in ratings compared to their white peers, with the effect persisting even after controlling for English as the faculty’s second language. These findings contribute in furthering the discussion on how universities value course evaluations to measure teaching effectiveness and allocate faculty resources.


Keywords: Race, Bias, Teaching Evaluations, Covid-19

JEL Codes: J15, I20


Work in progress


Abstract: This study examines the role of trans-boundary pollution in the context of three levels of government: local, regional, and national. For this examination, the study explores whether the location of a local municipality, relative to regional and international borders, affects the municipality’s wastewater management investment decisions. Intuitively, trans-boundary aspects of pollution undermine a jurisdictional government’s desire to constrain the amount of pollution generated from a particular source. As the distance between the source and a border falls, the trans-boundary aspects grow since a greater proportion of the detrimental effects of the pollution are born by neighboring downstream jurisdictions. Our study explores the efforts on the part of both a national government and a regional (i.e., sub-national) government to induce or facilitate a local municipal government’s management of wastewater. Our study contributes to the literature by (1) developing a rich conceptual framework to explain governmental use of policy tools to induce better environmental management by polluters, and (2) exploring the problem of trans-boundary pollution in the context of a developing economy. Using data for municipalities in the country of Colombia between 2000 and 2013, we find that municipalities located further from an intra-national border invest more into wastewater management than municipalities located closer to an intra-national border, consistent with the hypothesis that regional governments employ policy tools more strongly against the former set of municipalities. 

JEL Codes: H23, H77, K32, Q53, Q58 ( Full Document)


Events and Presentations