Landmines: The Local Effects of Demining" with, Miguel E. Purroy, and Juan F. Vargas
Anti-personnel landmines are one of the main c auses of civilian victimization in conflict-affected areas and a significan t obstacle for post-war reconstruction. Demining campaigns are therefore a promising policy instrument to promote long-term development. We argue that the economic and social effects of demining are not unambiguously positive . Demining may have unintended negative consequences if it takes place whil e conflicts are ongoing, or if they do not lead to full clearance. Using hi ghly disaggregated data on demining operations in Colombia from 2004 to 201 9, and exploiting the staggered fashion of demining activity, we find that post-conflict humanitarian demining generates economic growth (measured wit h night time light density) and increases students’ performance in test sco res. In contrast, economic activity does not react to post-conflict deminin g events carried out during military operations, and it decreases if demini ng takes place while the conflict is ongoing. Rather, demining events that result from military operations are more likely to exacerbate extractive ac tivities.
DTSTAMP:20260911T051503Z DTSTART:20211013T130000Z DTEND:20211013T140000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR