Is the war on drugs working? Examining the Colombian case using micro data

Marcela Ibanez
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Marcela Ibanez: Georg-August University Göttingen

No 148, Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers from Courant Research Centre PEG

Abstract: The intense debate on the effectiveness of the war on drugs contrasts with the lack of empirical evidence on its impacts. To evaluate the effectiveness of control-supply policies, we use micro data from an original survey with farmers living in a coca growing area in Colombia. We find that while eradication and alternative development decrease coca supply, the elasticity of supply of these policies is rather low. The efficiency of anti-drug policies could be increased by investing more in alternative development and less in eradication. Our analysis suggests that changing people's attitudes toward coca can be a promising alternative in the fight against drugs.

Keywords: Coca; Colombia; War on Drugs; Morality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D81 G11 K42 Z12 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-09-16
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr, nep-dev, nep-lam, nep-ltv and nep-neu
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:got:gotcrc:148

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