The Effect of Conflict on Education: Evidence from Sierra Leone

Hoenig, Tillman (2018): The Effect of Conflict on Education: Evidence from Sierra Leone.

Abstract

This study investigates the long-run effects of the civil war in Sierra Leone on education. Similar to the literature in other contexts, I exploit cohort and conflict variation within Sierra Leone from micro-level data in the spirit of a difference-in-difference (DID) design. Since schooling typically takes place at a particular age for people, using school age cohorts in such a way is a very natural method to estimate a plausibly causal effect of higher conflict intensity on the education of those affected by it. I find that a one standard deviation increase in conflict intensity led to a 0.3-0.5 year reduction in the amount of schooling for school aged children during the war by 2011, that is, ten years after the civil war ended. Some suggestive evidence on channels indicates that a major driver of this effect may be supply side factors.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Conflict, education, Sierra Leone, Civil War
• Subjects: D - Microeconomics > D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making > D74 - Conflict ; Conflict Resolution ; Alliances ; Revolutions; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I25 - Education and Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O12 - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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