Unintended Consequences of Alternative Development Programs: Evidence From Colombia's Illegal Crop Substitution

While force eradication through aerial spraying has large social costs, there is no evidence of the unexpected consequences of alternative development programs. This paper suggests an unintended effect of the largest crop substitution program in the world on political violence exploiting data on the...

Full description

Autores:
Marín Llanes, Lucas
Tipo de recurso:
Work document
Fecha de publicación:
2020
Institución:
Universidad de los Andes
Repositorio:
Séneca: repositorio Uniandes
Idioma:
eng
OAI Identifier:
oai:repositorio.uniandes.edu.co:1992/47146
Acceso en línea:
http://hdl.handle.net/1992/47146
Palabra clave:
Social leaders
Antidrug policies
Political violence
Colombia
D72, D74, D78
Rights
openAccess
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Description
Summary:While force eradication through aerial spraying has large social costs, there is no evidence of the unexpected consequences of alternative development programs. This paper suggests an unintended effect of the largest crop substitution program in the world on political violence exploiting data on the recent Colombian program. The program¿s community agreements increased the rate of social leaders¿ killings by 546 %. My findings suggest a larger effect on municipalities where leaders oppose the expansion of illicit crops, organized crime does not hold consolidated power, different armed groups are present, and land conflicts exist. This paper contributes by providing empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that policies aimed at reducing illicit crops have unintended consequences for local communities