A choice experiment on coca cropping

eeu sweden | Agriculture Behavior ec. Policy design

From 1997 to 2005, an astonishing 5200 million USD was invested to reduce cocaine production in Colombia, the world's main cocaine producer. However, little is known about the effectiveness of policies targeting coca cultivation. This paper uses a survey-based experiment to evaluate the effects of the two main policies: eradication and alternative development programs.

Our results support Becker's (1968) model of crime participation and in addition shed light on other non-monetary factors that affect the coca cultivation decision: religion, legitimacy, remoteness, and poverty are found to be important. We find that coca cultivation is inelastic to increases in perceived risk and relative profit so eradication and alternative development would have a rather small effect on coca cultivation. A simple simulation exercise predicts that investing additional hundred thousand dollars in eradication decreases coca cultivation in only 1.5%.

EfD Authors

PhD Marcela Ibanez
Professor Fredrik Carlsson Research Fellow

Keywords

Centers

eeu sweden

Type of publication

COMMONS
Peer reviewed

Reference

Ibanez, M. and F. Carlsson (2010) A choice experiment on coca cropping, Journal of Development Economics 93, 249-263.

Environment for Development

Environment for Development