We examine how forced displacement shapes child development beyond socioeconomic disadvantage. Using original data on roughly 1,600 Venezuelan refugee, Colombian internally displaced, and non-displaced children in Medellín, Colombia, we adapt rank-rank regressions from the intergenerational mobility literature to a forced displacement setting, ranking each child's developmental outcomes against household wealth. We document substantial gaps that persist after holding wealth and parental background fixed, and we show that the cause of displacement shapes their nature. Venezuelan refugees, displaced by acute material deprivation, fall 19 and 13 rank points behind in cognitive and physical development; Colombian children displaced by armed conflict instead fall 12 rank points behind in depression and exhibit elevated trauma. Access to regularization and social services is associated with narrower gaps.
| Repository name | URI |
|---|---|
| Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) | https://reproducibility.worldbank.org |
Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
• OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
• Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 6226R CPU @ 2.90GHz
• Memory available: 32.0 GB
Runtime: 5 minutes
To reproduce the findings in this package, please follow the steps below:
code/analysis/code/master do and update the global wd path to the location where you saved the replication package on your computer. This is the only path that needs to be changed; all other paths are set automatically relative to wd. Execute code/analysis/code/master do in Stata. This script sets all directory paths, constructs the analysis datasets by running build/code/data_creation.do and build/code/imputation_process.do, and then runs all paper and appendix Stata analysis scripts. This will generate outputs in analysis/outputs/paper/.analysis/code/appendix/2.1_appendix_A.R in analysis.Rproj, update the project_dir path to your local directory, and run the entire script. This will generate outputs in analysis/outputs/appendix/.analysis/code/appendix/2.2_appendix_B.ipynb and update the PROJECT_DIR path to your local directory, and run all cells. This will generate outputs in analysis/outputs/appendix/.All data is temporarily embargoed by the authors (expected to be made public in the future).
| Author | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Sandra Rozo | World Bank | sandrarozo@worldbank.org |
| Andres Moya | Universidad de los Andes | a.moya@uniandes.edu.co |
| Tatiana Hiller | UC Davis | hiller@ucdavis.edu |
2026-07-02
| Location | Code |
|---|---|
| Colombia | COL |
The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.
| Name | URI |
|---|---|
| MIT License | https://opensource.org/license/mit |
| World Bank IGO Rider | https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md |
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Rozo | World Bank | Sandra |
| Reproducibility WBG | World Bank | reproducibility@worldbank.org |
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproducibility WBG | DECDI | World Bank - Development Impact Department | Verification and preparation of metadata |
2026-07-02
1