Drug-related homicides increased in Mexico after NAFTA, study finds

The opening of trade borders under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994 was accompanied by a significant increase in drug-related violence in Mexican regions that functioned as key corridors for drug trafficking. That is the result of a recent study by Erik Hornung, Professor of Economic History at the University of Cologne's Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences and member of the ECONtribute Cluster of Excellence at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn. The findings are published in the Journal of Development Economics.