Author: Laura Montenegro Helfer

Economist and Historian

Gallery

Faces of the Congo

The portrait of the Congo is a colorful one. In the heart of the continent, the province of Équateur is where centuries ago the Sudanese met the Bantu. The story goes that the Crocodile crossed the northerners on his lap to the other side of the Ubangi River. Home to some of the Congo’s darkest figures–such as Mobutu Sese Seko and Jean-Pierre Bemba, it is also the cradle of a vibrant culture that reflects the beauty of its people. These are some of their faces.
Read earth of Gemena
After mass activity
The pagne-maker’s wife
Sabule’s Orphanage
Siblings
Sabule’s Hospital for Children
Women’s Wednesday mass
Ruth

Gemena, 2016

Working Papers

  • Is Migration Welfare-Enhancing? The Impacts of Economic and Forced Migration amid Conflict.  With Ana María Ibáñez. December 2015.

CV

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Personal Information

  • Name: Laura Montenegro Helfer
  • Date and place of birth: 12.19.1989. Oxford, Great Britain.
  • Nationalities: Colombian & Swiss
  • Cellphone: +1 (312) 3427366

Academic Formation

  • 2017-present: PhD Student (Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago).
  • 2017: MA in Economics (Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2015: BA in History (Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2013: BA in Economics (Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2007: Bachillerato Colombiano (Colegio Helvetia Bogotá).
  • 2007: Maturité Suisse/Schweizer Matura (Canton de Berne; Colegio Helvetia Bogotá).
  • 2004: Academic exchange in Switzerland (École Supérieure de Commerce de Martigny).

Academic Experience

  • 2016 (February to present): Research Assistant for James Robinson (University Professor at University of Chicago).
  • Summer 2016 (June to August): Fieldwork Research Assistant for Nathan Nunn (Professor at Harvard University) and James Robinson (University Professor at University of Chicago).
  • 2016 (February to May): Research Assistant for Leopoldo Fergusson (Assistant Professor at Universidad de los Andes) and James Robinson (University Professor at University of Chicago).
  • 2013 (July)- 2016 (May): Research Assistant for Ana María Ibáñez (Professor at Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2015 (January to May): Teaching Assistant in course ‘Economy of Institutions and Decisions’ given by Juan Camilo Cárdenas (Dean of the Economics Department and Professor at Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2014 (September) and 2015 (February-March): Fieldwork Research Assistant for Juan Camilo Cárdenas (Dean of the Economics Department and Professor at Universidad de los Andes).
  • 2013 (February to May): Research Assistant for Adriana Camacho (Professor at Universidad de los Andes).

Fellowships & Research Grants

  • 2020: EHA Exploratory Travel and Data Grant. 2’500USD.
  • 2020: BFI New Data Acquisition Grant. 20’000 USD.
  • 2019: Pearson Institute Research and Innovation Fund. 10’000 USD.
  • 2019: BFI Summer Research Grant. 5’000 USD.
  • 2017: Pearson Scholar Research Grant. 3’000 USD.
  • 2017-present: Pearson Scholarship.
  • 2012: Korean Government Scholarship for International Students of Major Partner Countries. Ministry of Science, ICT, and Future Planning.

Languages

  • Spanish: First language.
  • English: First language, CAE C1, and TOEFL (British Consulate, ETS).
  • French: Maturité Suisse (Main language) and DALF C1 (Colegio Helvetia Bogotá and Alianza Colombo Francesa).
  • German: Maturité Suisse (Secondary language) and Sprachdiplom I (Colegio Helvetia Bogotá and Deutsche Schule Bogotá).
  • Russian: A1+ (basic) level (Academia León Tolstoi Bogotá and Liden & Denz Saint Petersburg).

Publications

  • Ibáñez, Ana María; Montenegro, Laura ¿Qué pasó en las áreas rurales entre 2010 y 2013?: Contribución del acceso a tierras, choques negativos y programas estatales dirigidos al bienestar de los hogares [What happened in the rural areas between 2010 and 2013?: The contribution of land access, negative shocks, and state programs on household welfare]. In: Colombia en movimiento 2010-2013. Los cambios en la vida de los hogares a través de la Encuesta Longitudinal Colombiana de la Universidad de los Andes [Colombia in Motion 2010-2013: Changes in household living standards based on the Colombian Longitudinal Survey by the Universidad de los Andes]. Bogotá: Universidad de los Andes, 2014.

Working Papers

  • Ibáñez, Ana María; Montenegro, Laura. “Is Migration Welfare-Enhancing? The Impacts of Economic and Forced Migration amid Conflict”.
  • Arjona, Ana María; Ibáñez, Ana María; Cárdenas, Juan Camilo; Justino, Patricia; Montenegro, Laura. “Examining Forced Displacement beyond Violence: The Effect of Violence and Control of Armed Actors in Colombia”. 2015.
  • Montenegro, Laura. “Forming State through Land Reform Policy: The Dynamics of Baldío Allocation in Peripheral Colombia”. 2016.
  • Montenegro, Laura. “Pensando el Campo Colombiano: La política del desarrollo, las tierras, y la vida del campesino en el diseño de la Reforma Social Agraria (1960-1961)” [“Reflecting on the Colombian Rural Areas: Policies of development, land, and the life of rural workers in the designing of the Social Agrarian Reform (1960-1961)”]. 2014.

Presentations

  • Montenegro, Laura. Is migration welfare-enhancing? The impacts of economic and forced migration. January 2016, Puebla, Mexico. Presented at the RIMISP International Conference of Territorial Inequality and Development.

Summer Courses Abroad

  • 2015 (July 13 to July 23): Conflict and Political Violence. Olympia Summer Academy. European International Studies Association. Nafplio, Greece.

Skills (Systems)

  • STATA
  • LATEX
  • GIS (ArcGIS, QGIS)
  • GeoODK

Examining Forced Displacement beyond Violence: The Effect of Violence and Control of Armed Actors in Colombia

This paper examines the effect of conflict on internal migration. We uncover the mechanisms through which the presence of non-state armed actors cause migration: direct exposure to violence, uncertainty and fear, and the non-state armed actor exercise of control over the community. We use panel data for households in Colombia before and after migration and exploit the variation in the incidence of community violence and control of non-state armed actors within municipalities. The results show that households are willing to trade reductions in per capita consumption for improvements in security conditions. Direct victims of violence migrate to urban areas, while individuals living in communities with high control of armed groups are less likely to migrate within their municipalities. Stayers are presumably better able to cope with conflict induced risks by negotiating their daily lives with armed actors, adjusting their behavior to abide by the rules they impose, changing their economic behavior, or forming alliances in exchange for protection and economic and political benefits.

Examining Forced Displacement beyond Violence: The Effect of Violence and Control of Armed Actors in Colombia. With Ana María Arjona, Juan Camilo Cárdenas, Ana María Ibáñez, and Patricia Justino. December 2015.

Examining Forced Displacement beyond Violence: The Effect of Violence and Control of Armed Actors in Colombia

This paper examines the effect of conflict on internal migration. We uncover the mechanisms through which the presence of non-state armed actors cause migration: direct exposure to violence, uncertainty and fear, and the non-state armed actor exercise of control over the community. We use panel data for households in Colombia before and after migration and exploit the variation in the incidence of community violence and control of non-state armed actors within municipalities. The results show that households are willing to trade reductions in per capita consumption for improvements in security conditions. Direct victims of violence migrate to urban areas, while individuals living in communities with high control of armed groups are less likely to migrate within their municipalities. Stayers are presumably better able to cope with conflict induced risks by negotiating their daily lives with armed actors, adjusting their behavior to abide by the rules they impose, changing their economic behavior, or forming alliances in exchange for protection and economic and political benefits.

Take a look in: migration-and-conflict-20151103

Presentations

Is Migration Welfare-Enhancing? The Impacts of Economic and Forced Migration amid Conflict. From a Working Paper with Ana María Ibáñez. Presented at the RIMISP International Conference of Territorial Inequality and Development in Puebla, México (http://territorialconference2016.rimisp.org/). January 2016.

Abstract

Findings on the economic literature show migration is an effective strategy to increase welfare and reduce economic risk. However, conflict might limit the welfare-enhancing effects of migration. In war periods, people migrate for preventing victimization, to mitigate the declining economic conditions caused by conflict, or after aggressions by armed groups. In fact, households are willing to trade reductions in income for improved security conditions after migration. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the impact of migration in Colombia for economic and forced migrants. Colombia has one of the largest migration rates in the world and the second highest number of internally displaced persons worldwide. We use longitudinal data for 4,500 households to track rural migrants before and after migration. The results show exposure to direct violence causes migration to urban areas and migration to rural areas of households with more valuable lands, while the control of non-state armed actors prompts households to migrate to rural areas. Based on estimations that control for initial household fixed effects, we find migration to urban areas increases consumption per capita by COP$558.503 and migration to rural areas does not have a statistically significant impact on consumption. The paper will also estimate the heterogeneous impact of migration on consumption for exposure to direct violence and control of non-state armed actors before migrating.

Rethinking Colombian rurality: The politics of development, land, and the livelihood of agricultural workers in the designing of the Social Agrarian Reform (1960-1961)

camp

Rethinking Colombian rurality: The politics of development, land, and the livelihood of agricultural workers in the designing of the Social Agrarian Reform (1960-1961). December 2014.

Original title: Pensando el campo colombiano: La política del desarrollo, las tierras y la vida del campesino en el diseño de la Reforma Social Agraria (1960-1961)

 

Forming State Through Land Reform Policy: The Dynamics of Baldío Allocation in Peripheral Colombia

foto-1

This paper analyses land policy when the state lacks the monopoly of legitimate violence (MLV) through a territory. I use historical data for Colombia to empirically assess the dynamics through which the central state allocates land in such a scenario. I argue that colonization processes directed towards peripheral areas with lack of MLV induces the state to attempt building capacity using land policy. Public goods nevertheless do not follow. I use an instrumental variable strategy in order to examine these hypotheses. Results show that rural migration towards the peripheral areas accounts for 42.01% of the total number and 68.55% of the total hectares of public land allocations. Allocations however account for only the 7.89% of the number policemen and the 6% of the number of policemen per inhabitant in these regions. Moreover, both their total and per hectare effect on police presence is much higher in the integrated zones than in the peripheral ones.

Forming State Through Land Reform Policy: The Dynamics of Baldío Allocation in Peripheral Colombia. January 2017.