Oil palm development and forced displacement in Colombia: Causal or spurious?

Mónica Hurtado (monica.hurtado@unisabana.edu.co), Catherine Pereira-Villa (catherine.pereira@unisabana.edu.co) and Catherine Pereira Villa

Revista Cuadernos de Economia, 2017, vol. 36, issue 71, 441-468

Abstract: This article analyses whether forced displacement in the Magdalena Department (Colombia) between 2000-2010 was caused not only by the intensity of the armed conflict but also by the growth of the palm agribusiness. We find that a seven percentage point increase in the area used to produce palm per municipality caused an increase of a third of a standard deviation in the rate of forced displacement. These calculations were made on average and after controlling for armed conflict. We rationalize this finding by the fact that the development of the palm oil agribusiness caused displacement due to its land-intensive technology, increasing international prices combined with government subsidies, and the process was aided by paramilitary activities in the region. ***** Este artículo analiza si el desplazamiento forzado en el departamento del Magdalena (Colombia) entre los anos 2000-2010 tuvo como causa no solo la intensidad del conflicto armado sino también el crecimiento del agronegocio de la palma. Encontramos que un aumento del 7% en la zona utilizada para la producción de palma por municipalidad causó un aumento de un tercio de una desviación estándar en el índice de desplazamiento forzado. Dichos cálculos se hicieron por término medio y tras el control del conflicto armado. Racionalizamos este hallazgo por el hecho de que el desarrollo del agronegocio del aceite de palma provocó desplazamiento debido a su tecnología intensiva en tierra, aumento de precios internacionales combinado con subsidios gubernamentales y que al proceso contribuyeron actividades paramilitares en la región.

Keywords: Forced displacement; palm oil agribusiness; armed conflict; microeconometric panel data model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 N56 O13 Q13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:col:000093:015364

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