The Effect of Conflict on Learning Outcomes: Evidence from Uganda
Presented by:
Osaretin Olurotimi
Practice Job Talk
Agricultural & Applied Economics
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
12:00 pm-1:15 pm
Taylor-Hibbard Seminar Room (Rm103)
I estimate the effect of conflict on learning and schooling outcomes for children living in Uganda between 2010-2015. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I find that the Lord’s Resistance Army’s (LRA) activities in a neighborhood reduced learning outcomes in both math and English for the cohort of children exposed to armed conflict. Surprisingly, I find that exposure to LRA did not significantly affect other schooling outcomes, such as the probability of dropping out and being at the right age for a grade. Further, I find that the effect of conflict is worse for females and those who were babies or in-utero when exposed to conflict. In addition, I provide evidence that a mechanism through which conflicts affect learning outcomes is neither physical disability nor school infrastructure, but teacher absenteeism. Results from this paper imply the need to distinguish between schooling and learning when measuring the effect of shocks on children.
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