Paper #1333

Title:

Civil conflict and human capital accumulation: The long-term effects of political violence in Perú

Author:

Gianmarco León

Date:

March 2012

Abstract:

This paper provides empirical evidence of the persistent effect of exposure to political violence on human capital accumulation. I exploit the variation in conflict location and birth cohorts to identify the longand short-term effects of the civil war on educational attainment. Conditional on being exposed to violence, the average person accumulates 0.31 less years of education as an adult. In the short-term, the effects are stronger than in the long-run; these results hold when comparing children within the same household. Further, exposure to violence during early childhood leads to permanent losses. I also explore the potential causal mechanisms.

Keywords:

Civil Conflict, Education, Persistence, Economic shocks, Perú

JEL codes:

I20, J13, O12, O15, F5

Area of Research:

Labour, Public, Development and Health Economics

Published in:

Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 47(4): 991-1023. Forthcoming (fall 2012)

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