The Effect of Interdiction on Coca Cultivation in Colombia

his paper studies the effect of interdiction on coca cultivation in Colombia. Though directed against intermediate and final stages of cocaine production, this strategy could also have an impact on coca cultivation by affecting monopsonistic activities of ilegal groups. My results suggest that diffe...

Full description

Autores:
Cote, Juan Pablo
Tipo de recurso:
Work document
Fecha de publicación:
2019
Institución:
Universidad de los Andes
Repositorio:
Séneca: repositorio Uniandes
Idioma:
spa
OAI Identifier:
oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/41082
Acceso en línea:
http://hdl.handle.net/1992/41082
Palabra clave:
Interdiction
Coca cultivation
Causal effect
K42, O13, O54 and Q12
Rights
openAccess
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Description
Summary:his paper studies the effect of interdiction on coca cultivation in Colombia. Though directed against intermediate and final stages of cocaine production, this strategy could also have an impact on coca cultivation by affecting monopsonistic activities of ilegal groups. My results suggest that different types of interdiction operations have a negative effect on coca crops. In particular, I find that the presence of dismantling of laboratories causes a reduction of 0.003 to 0.006 hectares per squared kilometer in coca cultivation, coca base seizures cause a reduction of 0.003 to 0.008 hectares per squared km, coca leaves seizures cause a reduction of 0.006 to 0.019 hectares per squared km and cocaine seizures cause a reduction of 0.009 to 0.061 hectares per squared km. I interpret these results as evidence that interdiction is an effective anti-narcotic strategy; however,a cost-benefit analysis is needed to evaluate its convenience over other strategies, like aerial spraying campaigns.