Maria Estela Varua


Maria Estela Varua is a Lecturer in Economics and Finance at the University of Western Sydney. Her research interests include economic development, economic integration, finance, gender issues, environmental and resource economics, corporate social responsibility and the economics of teaching. Marie has over twenty years of teaching and research experience in Economics.




Papers Published in World Economics:


Understanding Crime, Political Uncertainty and Stock Market Returns

Colombia’s economy has experienced positive growth over the past few years despite the incidence of serious armed conflict in the region. However, the Colombia of today still faces a significant degree of sociopolitical instability as a result of organised crime associated with drug trafficking, the leftist guerrilla attacks and the right-wing paramilitary group. This paper examines the significance of organised crime and political uncertainty for the amalgamated Colombian Stock Exchange. Empirical evidence indicates that organised crime and political uncertainty negatively affect stock market returns and volatility.

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