Adjusting the Labor Supply to Mitigate Violent Shocks : Evidence from Rural Colombia

Ferná ; ndez, Manuel ; Ibá ; ñ ; ez, Ana Marí ; a ; Peñ ; a, Ximena

关键词: ACCESS TO LABOR MARKETS;    ADULT MALES;    AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE;    AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5684
RP-ID  :  WPS5684

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper studies the use of labormarkets to mitigate the impact of violent shocks onhouseholds in rural areas in Colombia. It examines changesin the labor supply from on-farm to off-farm labor as ameans of coping with the violent shock and the ensuingredistribution of time within households. It identifies theheterogeneous response by gender. Because the incidence ofviolent shocks is not exogenous, the analysis usesinstrumental variables that capture several dimensions ofthe cost of exercising terror. As a response to the violentshocks, households decrease the time spent on on-farm workand increase their supply of labor to off-farm activities(non-agricultural ones). Men carry the bulk of theadjustment in the use of time inasmuch as they supply themost hours to off-farm non-agricultural work and formallabor markets. Labor markets do not fully absorb theadditional labor supply. Women in particular are unable tofind jobs in formal labor markets and men have increasedtime dedicated to leisure and household chores. Additionaloff-farm supply does not fully cover the decrease inconsumption. The results suggest that in rural Colombia,labor markets are a limited alternative for coping withviolent shocks. Thus, policies in conflict-affectedcountries should go beyond short-term relief and aim atpreventing labor markets from collapsing and at supportingthe recovery of agricultural production.