Do conflicts create poverty traps? Asset losses and recovery for displaced households in Colombia

Internal conflicts entail large asset losses for certain segments in the civilian population. Asset losses may compromise the future welfare of households, thus leaving a legacy of structural poverty that is difficult to overcome. The purpose of this article is to analyze how asset losses occur during internal conflicts and the process of asset accumulation following the initial shock. To do this, we concentrate on a particularly vulnerable group of victims of war—the displaced population in Colombia. In achieving our objective, we adopt quantitative and qualitative approaches by: (i) providing a detailed description of losses stemming from forced displacement; (ii) analyzing qualitative evidence so as to understand the asset recovery processes for the displaced population; and (iii) estimating OLS, Instrumental Variable and quartile regressions in order to identify the determinants of asset losses stemming from forced displacement, and asset accumulation following the initial shock. The results indicate that recuperating asset losses or accumulating new assets is a rare event; only 25 percent of households are able to recover their original asset base, while asset ownership still seems insufficient for overcoming poverty. In addition, displaced households do not catch up even as settlement at destination sites consolidates. Therefore, unless a positive intervention is implemented, displaced households become locked in a low income trajectory, and are unlikely to leap forward to a high return asset level.Forced migration, civil conflict, asset losses, structural poverty, quantile regressions

El análisis genético-cuantitativo del pensamiento: una propuesta arriesgada

Reseña del libro de Carlos Castrodeza "Razón biológica. La base evolucionista del pensamiento" editado en Madrid, Minerva, 1999, 262 pp

Vida al laboratori. Biologia sintètica: de la biologia natural a l'artificial

Life in the Laboratory. Synthetic Biology: From Natural to Artifi cial Biology.Synthetic Biology is an applied research program that, nevertheless, is rationally anchored to Biological Science. The program aims to synthesize life. Here, the author gives an overview of current conceptions about this branch of Science, paying attention to its notorious ethical and philosophicalimplications

La educación matemática: una aproximación a su comprensión desde una visión interdisciplinar

En esta investigación documental se presentan un conjunto de elementos que permitan un proceso de aproximación a lo que significa Educación Matemática hoy en día y como la comprensión de consideraciones teóricas, epistemológicas y metodológicas pueden conducir al tránsito de una vía interdisciplinar. Se considera un marco referencial para la comprensión de su complejidad, la manera en que se han venido generando las actividades que conforman el campo, cuáles son algunas de las concepciones que se manejan y cómo esas concepciones han determinado diversas áreas de investigación. El análisis se adentra en la discusión de la Educación Matemática como disciplina científica y a su conformación como campo de estudio que a pesar de poder configurarlo bajo una especificidad propia, tiene importantes espacios de intersección con otras disciplinas