The study of the relationship between conflict and poverty is very relevant in a country like Colombia, suffering one of the longest internal conflicts still present in the world today and being the second country in South America with the highest percentage of people below the poverty line. This study uses government deterrence measures as instruments of several conflict-specific variables to estimate the impact of conflict on poverty in Colombia. Using census-level data at the municipality level for 2005, I assess the effect on both the urban and rural incidence of the newly developed Multidimensional Poverty Index. The findings show that the incidence of conflict significantly increases rural poverty. This is consistent with the fact that most of the conflict in Colombia takes place in rural areas. I also explore the lagged effect of conflict on poverty to conclude that it lasts for at least three years, but decreases over time. Finally, I show that the results are robust to a battery of additional specifications, including the use of alternative conflict data and a modified version of the dependent variable.
