Juan C. Trujillo
PhD Student

Profile

Biography

My current research comprises the understanding of three environmental issues applied to a conurbation located on the Caribbean basin: Barranquilla, Colombia. In a first study, I am interested in assessing the link between crime variables, particularly, homicides and minor felonies, and climatic, life-style and economic factors in a dynamic framework. A second study involves the ex-ante valuation of the implementation of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) as a potential solution to the long-standing problem of flash-floods that every year impact negatively the life of the residents and the city’s economy. Finally, in a third study, I try to scrutinize the socio-economic causes of the permanence of satellite dumpsites within the municipal perimeter concomitantly with the existence of a government concession system of rubbish collection.

Prior to the commencement of my PhD in January of 2015, I worked for more than 11 years as a lecturer in a state-supported regional university, Universidad del Atlantico, in Barranquilla, Colombia, where I taught undergraduate courses in Microeconomics and Applied Econometrics. Besides my teaching activities, I carried out some private consultancies and devoted a great deal of my labour time to applied research. Among the projects I lead appear: ‘Coral reefs under threat in a Caribbean marine protected area’, ‘The environmental Kuznets curve: An analysis of the landfilled solid waste in Colombia’, ‘Measurement of the technical efficiency of small pineapple farmers in Santander, Colombia: A stochastic frontier approach’, and some assessments in the field of public health to the Colombian public hospital network. I also volunteer providing consultancy services to the foundation Friends of the Caribbean Sea, an NGO that seeks the cleanliness, sustainability and the preservation of marine species in the Colombian Caribbean shores.

Career

Research

Overview

PhD Title

Three Essays on Environmental Policy Issues for a Tropical Humid Conurbation

Supervisor: Peter Howley, PhD

Funding: The Colombian Science and Technology Department (COLCIENCIAS-COLFUTURO) and The Newton-Caldas Fund Grant

Description of Thesis

Barranquilla is the fourth largest Colombian city. The city is one of the most important maritime and river ports of Colombia. Nowadays, Barranquilla is the most populous city in the Colombian Caribbean region (1,148,506 inhabitants). Approximately 57% of its population is classified as poor.

In the first study I try to analyse the link between temporal weather variations as predictors of crime variables such as homicides and minor felonies. Barranquilla has consistently ranked among the six most violent cities in Colombia. Its average temperature, which ranges between 24.2 and 32.4 degrees Celsius coupled with a yearly average level of relative humidity of about 82.5% and a rainy season that runs from late April through early December, posit Barranquilla’s weather as a stressful burden on the daily lives of its residents. Such a climatic context imposes a challenge to the current theories that explain the link between weather and crime at the urban level. In fact, there is no evidence of a temporal relationship that links variations in climate to urban crime in tropical urban settings. 

The second study stresses how the high growth rates of the urban population during recent years, and, most importantly, the absence of a system of drainage of pluvial water, have significantly reduced permeable surfaces. During the periods of heavy rainfall, significant volumes of water flowing at high speeds through the streets of the city form "urban creeks", making the affected areas high-risk zones. Similarly, the risk of flooding is increased by the presence of homes, businesses and infrastructure in risky areas close to the creeks. The consequences of these events are reflected in the damage to infrastructure networks and urban services, as well as a paralysis or disruption of vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The implementation of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS) emerges as a feasible long-run solution. How much are the residents of Barranquilla willing to pay for a potential implementation of this kind of system? What are the factors that determine their ex-ante willingness-to-pay for a SUDS? These questions constitute the core issue of this research endeavour.

In a third study, the objective is to explain the households' behaviour towards the prevailing satellite dumpsites that still operate within the urban limits. My hypothesis emphasizes the lack of civic engagement, an issue embedded within the concept of social capital, as one of the causes that explain households' behaviour towards illegal dumping. Likewise, trust is another element among people's behaviour. Trust encompasses the acceptance of risk and vulnerability in others' actions, and both, risk perception and trust, are closely linked, according to recent evidence. Thus, this nexus undergirds the inclusion of households' risk perception as a predictor of the households' behaviour towards illegal dumping.

The results from these studies on a whole will serve as a theoretical and empirical support for the local environmental policymakers to fill the void in terms of policy design and implementation, under the milieu of an increasing climatic change. 

Research group(s)

York Environmental Sustainability Institute (YESI)

Publications

Selected publications

With York Affiliation:

Trujillo, Juan C; Carrillo, Bladimir; Charris, Carlos and Velilla, Raúl. (2016). "Coral reefs under threat in a Caribbean marine protected area: Assessing divers' willingness to pay toward conservation." Marine Policy 68: 146-154, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2016.03.003

Padilla, Alcides J. and Trujillo, Juan C. (2015). “An impact assessment of the Child Growth, Development and Care Program in the Caribbean Region of Colombia.” Reports on Public Health, 31(10): pp. 2099-2109, The Brazilian National School of Public Health “Oswaldo Fio Cruz”, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00153514

Previous Selected Publications:

Carrillo, Bladimir; Iglesias, Wilman J. and Trujillo, Juan C. (2014). “Attainments and limitations of an early childhood programme in Colombia”, Health Policy and Planning, doi:10.1093/heapol/czu091, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

Trujillo, Juan C; Carrillo, Bladimir; Charris, Carlos and Iglesias, Wilman J. (2013).  “The environmental Kuznets curve: an analysis of the landfilled solid waste in Colombia.” Investigación and Reflexión. Facultad de Ciencias Económicas de la Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.

Trujillo, Juan C. and Iglesias, Wilman J. (2013). “Measurement of the technical efficiency of small pineapple farmers in Santander, Colombia: a stochastic frontier approach.” The Brazilian Journal of Rural Economics and Sociology, Vol. 51, Suppl. 1, pp. s049-s062, University of São Paulo, Brazil.

Trujillo, Juan C; Carrillo, Bladimir and Iglesias, Wilman J. (2013). “Relationship between professional antenatal care and facility delivery: an assessment of Colombia.” Health Policy and Planning, doi:10.1093/heapol/czt033, The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK. 

Conference Papers:

“Deforestation and infant health: Evidence from an environmental conservation policy in Brazil.” 43rd Annual Meeting Brazilian National Association of Postgraduate Programmes in Economics (ANPEC). Florianópolis, Brazil, 2015.

“Factores asociados con la separación de residuos sólidos en los hogares. La evidencia de Bogotá, D.C., Colombia.” First International Meeting of the Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies: Cities, Metropolis and Habitable Regions. Pontifical Bolivarian University and The Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies (ASCER). Medellín, Colombia, 2015.

“Valoración económica de las áreas marinas protegidas: Un análisis de costo de viaje utilizando modelos de datos de recuento para el buceo recreativo en los arrecifes de coral del Parque Nacional Natural Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo, Colombia.”I International Conference of the Colombian Association of Caribbean Studies. Asociación Colombiana de Estudios del Caribe (ACOLEC), Banco de la República, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, sede Caribe. Montería, Colombia, 2015.

“Valoración económica de las áreas marinas protegidas: Un análisis de costo de viaje utilizando modelos de datos de recuento para el buceo recreativo en los arrecifes de coral del Parque Nacional Natural Corales del Rosario y San Bernardo, Colombia.” IV Congress of Colombian Economy. Centro de Estudios sobre Desarrollo Económico (CEDE), Universidad de los Andes. Bogotá, Colombia, 2014.

“A micro-decomposition of the migrant-native homeownership gap. Evidence from a developing country.” 52 Congresso da Sociedade Brasileira de Economia, Administração e Sociologia Rural Sociedade Brasileira de Economia, Administração e Sociologia Rural (SOBER). Goiania, Brazil, 2014.

“Value of coral reefs preservation: A travel cost analysis using count data models for recreational scuba diving in Corals of Rosario National Park, Colombia.” 5th World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists. Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, 2014.

“Measuring the causal effect of deforestation on health outcomes.” 6th Annual Meeting of the Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies. The Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies (ASCER). University of Atlántico. Barranquilla, Colombia, 2013.

“Spatial estimation and economic variables for the calculation of micro territorial GDP per capita.” 5th Annual Meeting of the Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies. The Colombian Association of Urban and Regional Studies (ASCER). Autonomous University of Bucaramanga. Bucaramanga, Colombia, 2012.