Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/262338 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
ECONtribute Discussion Paper No. 176
Publisher: 
University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Reinhard Selten Institute (RSI), Bonn and Cologne
Abstract: 
How does violence affect social capital? I argue that its impact depends on two factors: i) the ability to identify the perpetrating group, and ii) the intensity of the violence. These factors help to reconcile the seemingly contradictory effects of violence on social capital presented in the literature. I study this question in the context of Colombia by exploiting changes in violence attributed to cross-border shocks on coca markets in neighboring countries interacted with a novel index of suitability for coca cultivation. This index uses satellite data from ecological conditions for growing coca. I document that violence has a negative effect on social capital measures such as trust, participation in community organizations, and cooperation. Notably, this effect is stronger when it is not possible to identify the enemy. The results are robust to a large number of controls that account for potential confounders. In particular, I show evidence that this effect is not related to the presence of drug cartels in Colombia during the Escobar and Cali era.
Subjects: 
Causal effects of violence
social capital
coca production
instrumental variables
Colombia
JEL: 
C36
D74
N46
O54
Z10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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