El gasto fiscal de la guerra contra los portadores de drogas ilícitas

Una aproximación para Colombia

Bibliographic Data

ID11149747
AuthorsIsabel Gutierrez (0000-0001-8830-2297, Universidad EAFIT, corresponding author), Santiago Tobon (0000-0001-5274-6697, University of Chicago)
Year2019
Issue91
Pages79-116
Publication date2019-07-17
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLecturas de Economía (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0120-2596 • E-ISSN: 2323-0622
PublisherUniversidad de Antioquia (PUBLISHER • CO)
DOI10.17533/udea.le.n91a03
OpenAlexW2963625101
LanguageES
Citations received1
References cited2

Around the world, governments spend enormous amounts of public funds in controlling possession, manufacturing and trafficking of illicit drugs. These costs are usually difficult to observe, as they correspond to the opportunity cost of many bureaucrats involved in the process. In this paper, we estimate the expected cost per arrest for possession, manufacturing or trafficking of illicit drugs for the case of Colombia. We find that the expected cost of an arrest is roughly COP$11 million, hence the expected total cost associated with the 984,106 arrests carried out between 2001 and 2015 adds up to COP$10.6 billion. Also, we analyse whether these expenditures are justified by the control of international drug trafficking, crime associated with drug dealing in local markets or drug abuse deterrence. We conclude that none of these reasons justify such fiscal expenditures; rather, these seem to be explained by an issue of incentive compatibility in Colombian authorities

Business · Criminology · Drug trafficking · Economics · Incentive · Market economy · Political science · Possession (linguistics · Sociology · Welfare economics · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Social Issues and Policies in Latin America · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

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