Browsing by Autor "Adriana Camacho"

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Armed conflict characteristics and its effects on firm exit
(2012) Adriana Camacho; Catherine Rodríguez
This paper uses two unique panel data sets to study the causal effect that different characteristics of the armed conflict have over firm exit in Colombia.Using a fixed effects estimation methodology at the plant level and controlling for the possible endogeneity of armed conflict through the use of instrumental variables, we find that the particular armed group that operates in a given region, the level of polarization of the conflict as well as the specific target of the attack impact in a differential manner the probability of firm exit.This poses important implications for policy recommendations and actions in the different regions of the country.
Cash and Ballots: Conditional Transfers, Political Participation, and Voting Behavior
(University of Chicago Press, 2018) Emily Conover; Román Andrés Zárate; Adriana Camacho; Javier E. Báez
We estimate the effect of participation in a large antipoverty program in Colombia on turnout and electoral choice. Using variation in the proportion of beneficiaries across voting booths within a polling station and eligibility as an instrument for take-up, we find that in the 2010 presidential elections, enrolled women were more likely to vote and support the incumbent party candidate. Results for men are smaller and not always significant. Voters respond to targeted transfers, and women, as the direct recipients of the transfers, respond more strongly. Potential mechanisms explaining the results are civic engagement and gratitude toward the incumbent party.
Conditional Cash Transfers, Political Participation, and Voting Behavior
(2012) Javier E. Báez; Adriana Camacho; Emily Conover; Román Andrés Zárate
This paper estimates the effect of enrollment in a large scale anti-poverty program in Colombia, Familias en Accion, on intent to vote, turnout and electoral choice. For identification the analysis uses discontinuities in program eligibility and variation in program enrollment across voting booths. It finds that Familias en Accion had a positive effect on political participation in the 2010 presidential elections by increasing the probability that program beneficiaries registered to vote and cast a ballot, particularly among women. Regarding voter's choice, the authors find that program participants expressed a stronger preference for the official party that implemented and expanded the program. Overall, the findings show that voters respond to targeted transfers and that these transfers can foster support for incumbents, thus making the case for designing political and legislative mechanisms, as the laws recently passed by the Colombian government, that avoid successful anti-poverty schemes from being captured by political patronage.
Economic Development: Challenges and Policies (Desarrollo Económico: Retos y Políticas Públicas ) (Spanish)
(2009) Raquel Bernal; Adriana Camacho; Carmen Elisa Flórez Nieto; Christian Jaramillo; Oskar Nupia; Ximena Peña; Catherine Rodriguez; Fabio Sánchez; Miguel Urrutia; Alejandro Gaviría
This study identifies the main problems that Colombia faces and the medium and long term policies that it should follows in order to become a developed country. We concentrate on five relevant elements of development: Education, health and demography, poverty and income distribution, labor market and institutions.
Firm exit and armed conflict in Colombia
(2010) Adriana Camacho; Catherine Rodríguez
This paper uses two unique panel data sets to study the causal effect that armed conflict has over entrepreneurial activity in Colombia.Using a fixed effect estimation methodology at the plant level and controlling for the possible endogeneity of armed conflict through the use of instrumental variables, we find that a one standard deviation in the number of guerrilla and paramilitary attacks in a municipality increases the probability of firm exit in 8.1 percentage points.This effect is stronger for smaller plants and has a differential impact with respect to firms' age.
Happily Ever after? Domestic Violence in Periods of Scarcity
(2024) Adriana Camacho; Catherine Rodríguez
This paper estimates the causal impact that changes in household¬¥s income have on Domestic Violence (DV) rates in Colombia. Using the arguably exogenous variation in time and space of the payments of a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program and a three-year-long monthly municipal balanced panel data set, we find that DV rates decrease by six percent in the months when the transfers are received. However, this effect is only transitory and varies according to households‚Äô expectations on when the transfers are received. Negative shocks that take place when families do not receive the transfer they were expecting, intensify economic scarcity, and DV rates in those months follow suit. On the contrary, positive shocks that occur when families receive an unexpected transfer only have a marginal reduction on DV. The channel that appears to be explaining our results is a budget constraint alleviation mechanism that reduces scarcity as the timing of the receipt of the transfer consistently reduces DV and increases consumption in the month of payment. Furthermore, there is no clear evidence of alternative channels that could explain the results such as changes in female empowerment, marital status, labor participation, or social networks of the beneficiary women.
Las externalidades de los programas de transferencias condicionadas sobre el crimen: El caso de Familias en Acción en Bogotá
(2013) Daniel Mejía; Adriana Camacho
En este trabajo estudiamos los efectos indirectos del mayor programa de transferencias condicionadas (PTC) de Colombia, Familias en Acción, sobre los niveles de criminalidad en el área urbana de la ciudad de Bogotá. Para realizar este estudio combinamos las siguientes dos fuentes de información: el Sistema de Información de beneficiarios de Familias en Acción (SIFA) y los reportes administrativos de criminalidad de la Policía Nacional. En el estudio evaluamos dos posibles canales por los cuales Familias en Acción puede afectar los niveles de criminalidad. Por un lado, el efecto ingreso, para el cual explotamos la variación existente en las fechas de pago del programa. Nuestros resultados indican que a través de este efecto el programa reduce el crimen a la propiedad.
Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in Colombia
(2024) Adriana Camacho; Emily Conover; Dean Scrimgeour
Following Hsieh and Klenow (2009) this paper studies productivity dispersion in Colombian industrial establishments using the Colombian Annual Manufacturing Survey (AMS) from 1982 to 1998. We consider how much a hypothetical removal of firm-level distortions would increase manufacturing productivity in Colombia and compare it with the United States. We find that such a reallocation would increase manufacturing Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in Colombia around 15% more than in the United States in our baseline calibration. We find that distortions have been increasing over time. Productivity gains are larger if we use Colombia’s higher estimated elasticity of output with respect to capital. Furthermore we show that TFP is positively correlated with exporting status, age, size, and location in the Oriental region and the capital of the country.   JEL Classification Codes: O47; D24
The Effects of Public Housing on Children: Evidence from Colombia
(2022) Adriana Camacho; Valentina Duque; Michael Gilraine; Fabio Sánchez
We analyze the effect of Colombia's ambitious "Free Housing" program on children's educational outcomes.The program was generous, giving free housing to beneficiaries in desirable areas.We evaluate the program by leveraging housing lotteries and linking applicants to their children.We find that public housing increases high school graduation by seven percentage points -a seventeen percent increase relative to the control mean -and boosts exit exam scores and collegegoing.Using a survey to explore mechanisms, lottery winners report better environmental conditions and shorter commute times.Their children also attend better schools and live in neighborhoods with less crime.
The Expansion of Higher Education in Colombia: Bad Students or Bad Programs?
(2016) Adriana Camacho; Julián Messina; Juan Pablo Uribe
Rapid expansion in the demand for post-secondary education triggered an unprecedented boom of higher education programs in Colombia, possibly deteriorating quality. This paper uses rich administrative data matching school admission information, wages and detailed socio-economic characteristics of the young graduates, and standardized test scores pre- and post-tertiary education, to assess the heterogeneity in the value added generated by higher education programs. Our findings show that once we account for self-selection, the penalty of attending a recently created program that initially appeared to be large becomes much smaller, and close to zero.
The health consequences of aerial spraying of illicit crops: the case of Colombia
(2012) Adriana Camacho; Daniel Mejía
This paper exploits the variation in aerial spraying across time and space in Colombia and employs a panel of individual health records in order to study the causal effects of aerial spraying of herbicides (Glyphosate) on health-related outcomes.Our results show that an increase in the amount of aerial spraying in a municipality increases the number of medical consultations related to the exposure of Glyphosate that the municipality's inhabitants present.This finding is robust to the inclusion of individual fixed effects, which compares the prevalence of Glyphosate related consultations for the same person under different levels of exposure to the herbicide.We find strong negative effects on dermatological problems and abortions, while there is no evidence of effects on respiratory diseases.
The Impact of Receiving Price and Climate Information in the Agricultural Sector
(2011) Emily Conover; Adriana Camacho
Previous studies indicate that Colombian farmers make production decisions based on informal sources of information, such as family and neighbors or tradition. In this paper the authors randomize recipients of price and weather information using text messages (SMS technology). The authors find that relative to those farmers who did not receive SMS information, the farmers who did were more likely to provide market price information, had a narrower dispersion in the expected price of their crops, and had a significant reduction in crop loss. Farmers also report that text messages provide useful information, especially in regards to sale prices. The results do not find, however, a significant difference between the treated and untreated farmers in the actual sale price, nor changes in farmers' revenues or household expenditures.