Instituto de Economía

We study the causal impact of internally displaced people (IDP)
inflows on rental prices in Colombian host cities. Following an
instrumental variables approach we find that as IDP inflows
increase, low-income rental prices increase and high-income
rental prices decrease. We provide empirical evidence on two
potential mechanisms for these findings: Excess demand for
low-income housing puts upwards pressure on rental prices;
increasing supply of high-income housing coupled with rising
homicide rates put downwards pressure on rental prices.

JEL: J1, O15, R23, R31
Keywords: Internal Displaced People, Migration, Crime,
Rental Prices