Migration and violence: how legacies of war shape migration decisions

• Development Workshop

Date and Location

Thursday, October 20, 2016, 4:10 PM - 5:30 PM
ARE Conference Room, 2102 Social Sciences and Humanities

Abstract

This paper examines how the legacies of conflict shape migration decisions after an ex-post negative income shock. In particular, we study whether the impact of conflict on social networks and market mechanisms hinders the risk-coping mechanisms of households. We use panel data for households in Colombia before and after migration, and detailed data on the governance structures imposed by non-state armed actors on the communities. Our findings show that an extreme weather event increases migration as a risk-coping strategy and this effect is higher in regions with stronger governance from non-state armed actors. We also find that strong governance of non-state armed actors limits social networks to close family and friends, and isolates households from markets. This pushes households to sell land and livestock, and migrate in order to cope with the negative income shock.