NAFTA and Drug-Related Violence in Mexico

Eduardo Hidalgo (), Erik Hornung and Pablo Selaya
Additional contact information
Eduardo Hidalgo: University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923 Cologne, Germany

No 196, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: We study how NAFTA changed the geography of violence in Mexico. We propose that open borders increased trafficking profits of Mexican cartels and resulted in violent competition among them. We test this hypothesis by comparing changes in drug-related homicides after NAFTA's introduction in 1994 across municipalities with and without drug-trafficking routes. Routes are optimal paths connecting municipalities with a recent history of drug trafficking with U.S. ports of entry. On these routes, homicides increase by 27% relative to the pre-NAFTA mean. These results cannot be explained by changes in worker's opportunity costs of using violence resulting from the trade shock.

Keywords: Violence; NAFTA; Free Trade; Mexico; Illegal Drug Trafficking; Conflict (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D74 F14 K42 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2022-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-int and nep-law
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_196_2022.pdf First version, 2022 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: NAFTA and Drug-Related Violence in Mexico (2022)
Working Paper: NAFTA and drug-related violence in Mexico (2022)
Working Paper: NAFTA and drug-related violence in Mexico (2022)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:196

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany Niebuhrstrasse 5, 53113 Bonn, Germany.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ECONtribute Office ().