>> W E B P O N D O ..:::::.__

Introduction

This is a brief review of the specialized economic literature on the consequences on growth of criminality and conflict in Colombia. It has been guided by at least three points. First we focus on economic growth. That is, we leave aside studies that have had as their variable of interest the level of output. Second we do not distinguish among works using conflict or criminality variables, nor we differentiate between forms of criminality or ask about their origins. The majority of the papers we refer to, focus on criminality figures. Still, some of them also use data on the internal conflict. These are two different phenomena although there is a strong relationship between them. When presenting the literature we will stick to the concepts used in the corresponding paper by the different authors, otherwise -in the rest of this introduction as well as the conclusions- we will use the word 'violence' to refer to both criminality and conflict. As for criminality, it is sometimes associated with the homicide rate, manslaughter, street crime, crime against property, drug trafficking, kidnapping or a mixture of some or all of these actions. Again, we will use 'violence' although we believe that a clear distinction of the different activities and their impact on the economic growth should be at the top of any research agenda on the topic. The third and foremost is that we focus on quantitative studies that using diverse methodologies have tried to identify the effects of violence.

In a sense, rather than just writing a survey, we contribute to the literature by making a constructive critique of the different methodologies. We conclude with a short summary of what we have learned from these studies and point out to what we think should be the focus of future research on the subject. Additional to the referred studies, at the end we also offer a long list of references on criminality and conflict which not necessarily fit to our three criteria but that can be of some use for those who want to learn about the Colombian literature on this topic.

Finally, we apologize for not having been exhaustive in the review. We recognize that there might be a few influential studies missing. However, our objective has been to review a few but nevertheless important studies and to start documenting the state of knowledge of what we think is an important research for Colombian economists and other social scientists. In any case, it is for them to help us complete this survey and contribute in constructing a quantitative view of the relation between growth and violence in Colombia based on the existing studies that meet the three previously mentioned guidelines. Therefore, all comments and suggestions are welcome to enhance this review.