The harshness of punishment society chooses to impose on crime oÞenders is mandated by law. However, the quality of life in prison can make this punishment harsher. This creates a variation in the severity of punishment which is not legislated and may diÞer from society.s taste for penalties....

This paper contributes to the economic analysis of illicit activities and money laundering. First, it presents a theoretical model of long-run growth that explicitly considers illicit workers, activities, and income, alongside a licit private sector and a functioning government. Second, it...

Using a unique combination of household and violence data sets and a duration analysis methodology, this paper estimates the effect that exposure to armed conflict has on school drop-out decisions of Colombian children between the ages of six and seventeen. After taking into account the possible...

This paper examines the evolution of drug use in Colombia over the past years. Our analysis, based on surveys from the Dirección Nacional de Estupefacientes, shows that drug consumption grew substantially between 1996 and 2013. The growth occurred for both genders, all ages, socioeconomic...

Through a randomized control trial this paper estimates the impact that a radio broadcasted financial education program has on the knowledge and behavior of its listeners. Viva Seguro, the program evaluated, is specialized on topics related with the risks individuals face and how to correctly...

Spanish Abstract: El presente estudio, financiado por la Fundación Ford y el IDRC, realiza un diagnóstico acerca de las trayectorias de desarrollo de jóvenes residentes en las zonas más afectadas por el conflicto (municipios PDET), las principales barreras estructurales que afrontan y...

We study a recent merit-based financial program for the poor in Colombia. We exploit sharp eligibility rules in household wealth and standardized test scores to identify the causal effect of financial aid on postsecondary enrollment and academic performance. We find large positive effects on...

This paper uses a natural experiment to identify the impact of a judicial system reform on police behavior. The study finds that, after a decrease in the severity of judicial punishment imposed on Colombian adolescents, arrest rates for adolescents in most misdemeanor crimes decreased due to a...