Unraveling the network of extractive industries

This paper analyzes extractive industries in Colombia and their connections to other economic activities in the country. We use detailed social security data on all formal employees to create an industry skill-relatedness measure using labor flows between industries. Drawing on the vast network analysis literature, we exploit centrality measures to reveal the importance of the extractive sector among Colombian industries. Our results show that extractive industries are well connected within the Colombian industrial network and are central overall and within their clusters. We also find that extractive industries have stronger linkages with manufacturing and agriculture than with other sectors. In addition, we find that a higher relatedness to extractive activities is correlated with lower levels of employment, especially for female workers. •Labor flow-based measure to recover the industry space in Colombia and examine the role of extractive industries within it.•Extractive industries play a central role in the Colombian industry space, and seem to be more pronounced in their clusters.•Detailed data to identify industry clusters of extractive industries, relevant for policy makers to enable policy targeting.