In this paper, we analyze how forced displacements caused by violent conflicts affect the
wages of displaced workers in Colombia, a country characterized by a long historical
prevalence of violent conflicts between the government, the militia group (FARC), drug
trafficking, and other crime that affect hundreds of people, forcibly displaced to other regions
of the country. Using data from the Quality of Life Survey (2011-2014), we analyze
differences in wages between those who were forced to move to other regions, and those
who were not forced to move. In our empirical strategy, we take into account that those who
were displaced may have characteristics that differ from those who were not forced, and we
apply Propensity Score Matching techniques to consider forced displacements exogenous to
the individuals. We apply different matching algorithms, and find that forced displacement
decreases between 6% and the 22% the wages of males, and between 17% and 37% the
wages of females, compared to their non-displaced counterparts. Thus, forced displacements
result in poorer labor market outcomes, and the government should explore how public
policies may help to alleviate the negative consequences of forced displacements as first
step to reduce wage inequalities originated by these conflicts.