NICEP Seminar: Juan Vargas (Universidad del Rosario)

Title:  Peaceful entry: The dynamics of entrepreneurship during the Colombian post conflict.

Abstract:  What are the economic consequences of long-term civil conflicts? In this paper we study how the recent peace agreement in Colombia affected the entry of new firms. Using a difference-in-differences strategy exploiting the timing of the agreement and the geographic exposure to FARC violence prior to the agreement, we show that there was ashort-lived increase in firm entry, that was reverted after the new government took place. This increase in entry is found across different sectors, with a larger entry concentrated in agriculture. Moreover, entry is larger in areas further away from military control, suggesting that entrepreneurs are now exploring new markets, and are larger in areas with tax benefits and with more intense post conflict government investment.