Displacement, conflict and welfare: an empirical analysis

Colombia's civil conflict over the last 40 years has displaced many families and individuals from their villages of origin. Estimates vary, but it is clear that the problem has become, especially in recent decades, a very important one. Casual visits to the main cities in Colombia provide abundant evidence of the problem: displaced individuals are visible in poor neighbourhoods and more generally on the streets. The consequence of such displacement can be dramatic. In addition to the direct act of violence that causes the displacement, individuals often loose their livehood, productive assets and valuable skills, the human capital they possess is often inadequate in the new environments, children are removed from school and so and so forth.

The study of the consequences of displacement in Colombia has often used data on individuals or households that have been displaced from the villages of origin and that have emerged somewhere else, typically in a large city. This, however, is only part of the story. Many individuals do not leave the region of origin and decide to stay in the village of origin. This report is the first study, to the best of our knowledge, that complements the existing studies by looking at individuals who live in the same villages of origin of the displaced but, for some reason, are not displaced. These data are then compared with those of a more traditional survey which gathers information on displaced individuals and families.