Journal Article

Estimating Effectiveness of the Control of Violence and Socioeconomic Development in Colombia: An Application of Dynamic Data Envelopment Analysis and Data Panel Approach

Poveda, Alexander Cotte

2012

Overview

This paper develops an index to evaluate the level of effectiveness of the control of violence based on the data envelopment analysis approach. The index is used to examine the grade of effectiveness of the control of violence at the level of Colombian departments between 1993 and 2007. Comparing the results across Colombian departments, we find that the majority of departments show improvement in their scores of effectiveness. A second stage of the regression model reveals that departments with a higher gross domestic product and higher education and employment are more effective in the control of violence, whereas departments with higher political violence, unemployment rates, unsatisfied basic needs, a displaced population, and hectares cultivated with coca show lower effectiveness in the control of violence. All these findings are of particular interest in the formulation and development of policies against violence, taking into account that organised forms of violence, such as drug trafficking, impede the adequate effectiveness of its control. Moreover, violence decreases social investments, generating alterations in social services that produce long-run deterioration in faith in the government's ability to govern, which should become an incentive to further violence.

• Publisher: Springer,Springer Netherlands,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Access to education / Civil war / Colombia / Comparative Analysis / Control / Crime / Criminal sociology. Police. Delinquency. Deviance. Suicide / Data / Data analysis / Data envelopment analysis / Departments / Deterioration / Developing Nations / Development Policy / Displaced persons / Domestic violence / Drug Trafficking / Economic Development / Economic Factors / Economic growth / Education / Effectiveness / Efficiency metrics / Employment / Foreign Countries / GDP / Governance / Gross Domestic Product / Higher Education / History, theory and methodology / Homicide / Human Capital / Human Geography / Income distribution / Indexes / Inequality / Insurgency / Least Squares Statistics / Life satisfaction / Methodology / Microeconomics / Multivariate Analysis / Political conditions / Political Violence / Poverty / Program Effectiveness / Public Health / Public Policy / Quality of Life Research / Rebellions / Regression analysis / Relocation / Social Indicators / Social research / Social Sciences / Social Services / Socioeconomic development / Socioeconomic Influences / Sociology / Sociology of law and criminology / Sociometric Techniques / Standard of living / Studies / Unemployment / Unemployment rates / Violence / Violent crimes