Proyecto: Proyecto 4

Transit infrastructure and informal housing: Assessing an expansion of Medellín’s Metrocable system

Transportation policies have a valuable influence on the allocation of resources within cities. Therefore, investigating the impacts of transit interventions is relevant, especially in developing countries where informal housing is highly prevalent and spatial disparities are noteworthy. We study the impact of a transit expansion of the Metrocable system in Medellín, Colombia, as a natural […]

Brothers or invaders? How crisis-driven migrants shape voting behavior

We study the electoral effects of the arrival of 1.3 million Venezuelan refugees in Colombia as a consequence of the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. We exploit the fact that forced migrants disproportionately locate in places with earlier settlements of Venezuelans after the intensification of the crisis. We find that larger migration shocks increase voter’s turnout and […]

Announcement of the first metro line and its impact on housing prices in Bogotá

Transport infrastructure investment impacts mobility and may significantly affect the capitalisation of the areas surrounding these infrastructure projects, even before the projects are completed. This paper analyses the impact that the announcement of the First Metro Line has on housing prices in the city of Bogotá. It combines innovative databases, web scraping and Google Maps […]

Sanitation dynamics: toilet acquisition and its economic and social implications in rural and urban contexts

This paper uses primary micro-data from Indian households residing in rural villages and poor urban neighbourhoods to shed light on household sanitation decision-making. We use a theoretical economic model to reduce the dimensionality and complexity of this process. Beyond the most commonly analysed motivator, health, we consider economic and non-pecuniary benefits. We provide empirical evidence […]

The Effects of Formal Financial Inclusion on Informal Credit Use: Evidence from Colombia.

It is well known that formal credit can improve household’s wellbeing in developing countries, however, its relationship to informal credit as a substitute or complement is uncertain. This study aims to estimate the causal effect of formal credit on the use of informal credit sources using a Regression Discontinuity Designs which exploits credit allocation rules […]

Cars accidents and academic test results. The case of Medellín, Colombia

Medellin offers an interest case to study the effects of air pollution on academic performance at local scale. With 2.4 million people and an area of 382 km2, Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia2 and one of the most densely populated cities in Latin America. In the last 10 years, the city has […]

Changes in new and old informal urban settlements in Bogota: logic of need and logic of the market: two case studies

Urban policies conceive informal urbanization as a phenomenon to be eliminated or regularized. However, the “informal city” does not exist separately from formality, so it is necessary to understand how its actors, institutions and social arrangements function. This article, resulting from research , shows the changes produced in the motivations for the formation and destiny […]

Oligopoly and collusion in the Colombian electricity market

The Wholesale Electricity Market –WEM– in Colombia was created with Laws 142 and 143 of 1994 with the aim of promoting and preserving competition among agents and guaranteeing an efficient energy spot price. However, in practice the market works as an oligopoly in competition; evidence indicates there is market concentration, without reaching abuse of dominant […]