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Publications
Publications
  • 2020
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

Job Loss, Credit and Crime in Colombia

By: Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Christian Posso and Jorge Tamayo
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:35
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Abstract

We investigate the effects of job displacement, as a result of mass layoffs, on criminal arrests using a matched employer-employee-crime dataset from Medellín, Colombia. Job displacement leads to immediate and persistent earnings losses and higher probability of arrest for both the displaced worker and family members. Leveraging a banking policy reform, we find that greater access to credit attenuates the criminal response to job loss. Impacts on arrests are pronounced for property crimes and among younger men for whom opportunities in criminal enterprises are prevalent. Taken together, our results are consistent with economic incentives contributing to criminal participation decisions after job losses.

Keywords

Job Displacements; Job Cuts and Outsourcing; Crime and Corruption; Credit; Colombia; Medellín

Citation

Khanna, Gaurav, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Christian Posso, and Jorge Tamayo. "Job Loss, Credit and Crime in Colombia." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-104, April 2020.
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About The Author

Jorge Tamayo

Strategy
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    • 2023
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    Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime

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    • September–October 2023
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    Reskilling in the Age of AI

    By: Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic and Raffaella Sadun
More from the Authors
  • Spatial Mobility, Economic Opportunity, and Crime By: Gaurav Khanna, Carlos Medina, Anant Nyshadham, Daniel Ramos-Menchelli, Jorge Tamayo and Audrey Tiew
  • The Health Costs of Dirty Energy: Evidence from the Capacity Market in Colombia By: Achyuta Adhvaryu, Theresa Molina, Anant Nyshadham, Jorge Tamayo and Nicholas Torres
  • Reskilling in the Age of AI By: Jorge Tamayo, Leila Doumi, Sagar Goel, Orsolya Kovács-Ondrejkovic and Raffaella Sadun
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