Technology and State Capacity: Experimental Evidence from Illegal Mining in Colombia
Date of Publication
1-1-2023 12:00 AM
Security Theme
Illegal Mining
Keywords
Illegal Mining, Colombia, transnational crime, security technology, monitoring technology, law enforcement
Description
New monitoring technologies can help combat illegal activities by reducing information asymmetries between enforcing and monitoring government agents. I created a novel dataset using machine learning predictions on satellite imagery to detect illegal mining. I then shared these predictions with government agents to study their impact on illegal activity. I randomly assigned municipalities to one of four groups: (1) providing information to the observer (local government) about potential mine locations in their jurisdiction; (2) providing information to the enforcer (National government) about potential mine locations; (3) providing information to both the observer and enforcer; and (4) having a control group where I informed no one.
Technology and State Capacity: Experimental Evidence from Illegal Mining in Colombia
New monitoring technologies can help combat illegal activities by reducing information asymmetries between enforcing and monitoring government agents. I created a novel dataset using machine learning predictions on satellite imagery to detect illegal mining. I then shared these predictions with government agents to study their impact on illegal activity. I randomly assigned municipalities to one of four groups: (1) providing information to the observer (local government) about potential mine locations in their jurisdiction; (2) providing information to the enforcer (National government) about potential mine locations; (3) providing information to both the observer and enforcer; and (4) having a control group where I informed no one.
