On the Relationship between Violent Conflict and Wages in Colombia

Abstract

We analyze how forced displacements caused by violent conflict are related to the wages of workers in Colombia. Using data from the Quality of Life Survey (2011-2014), we analyze the differences in wages between those forced by violence to move to other regions, and those who moved for other reasons We apply Propensity Score Matching techniques to compare workers from the two groups, finding that forced displacement is related to decreases of between 10% and 29% in the wages of males, and between 18% and 37% in the wages of females, relative to their counterparts. Thus, forced displacements are related to poorer labor market outcomes in terms of wages.

Jobs Interventions for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

“…Using propensity score matching (PSM), a study finds that IDPs in Colombia who are working receive significantly less wages, compared to those who moved due to reasons other than violence (10-29 percent for male, and 18-37 percent for female workers, depending on the matching method used). 7 In Georgia, compared to local residents IDPs are less likely to be in the labor force and more likely to be unemployed and receive lower wages, sometimes even after 20 years of forced displacement. 8…”

The Impact of Forced Displacement on Host Communities: A Review of the Empirical Literature in Economics

“…The literature on the impacts of forced displacement on the displaced themselves was very limited until recently (see the reviews by Kondylis andMueller 2014 andVargas-Silva 2013) but has also started to grow in the last years (e.g. Gimenez-Nadal, Jose Ignacio, José Alberto Molina, and Edgar Silva-Quintero 2018;Fransen, Vargas-Silva, and Siegel 2018). The results of this literature are linked to our review as the impacts on the financial assets, human capital and psychological well-being of forced migrants will in return influence how they impact the consumer and labor markets of the host community.…”

Migración en Colombia:

“…Se puede decir que los efectos económicos de la migración interna y la internacional son los mismos, en la medida que el desplazamiento generado en ambas situaciones llevará a que en un futuro se presenten resultados positivos y negativos para el país. En el caso de la migración colombiana, el conflicto interno ha sido el principal causante de esta, este fenómeno de violencia impactó en mayor medida al campo colombiano y generó una serie de desequilibrios macroeconómicos, presiones sobre la tasa de desempleo, la competitividad y los salarios (Giménez-Nadal et al, 2018). En los siguientes apartados se mostrarán algunos efectos de la migración interna sobre la población y la economía nacional.…”