# name
Earthquake exposure and schooling: impacts and mechanisms [WP]

# metadata.dc.contributor.author[].value
Choi Mendizábal, Álvaro B. (Álvaro Borja)

# metadata.dc.description.abstract[].value
Natural disasters are a significant threat to human development. In  this paper, we analyze the effects of being exposed to a strong  earthquake during school age on schooling outcomes. We merge  geolocated data about the intensity of the shock at the district level  with individual information from the Indonesia Family Life Survey.  The identification strategy exploits variation in exposure to the  natural shock by birth cohort and district of residence, considering   as the treated group individuals who were residing in affected  districts while they were in school age. Earthquake exposure reduces years of schooling by somewhat less than one year and  negatively affects the probability of completing compulsory  education but does not alter the chances of enrolling into post-compulsory education. Falsification analysis and several robustness  checks corroborate the causal interpretation of our findings. The  analysis of the potential mechanisms indicates that induced  migration and casualties  occurring at the family level as a  consequence of the earthquake do not seem to play a relevant role.  However, damages in educational infrastructures do represent a relevant channel through which natural disasters harm human  capital formation. Part of the overall impact of the earthquake  represents a delay in schooling   progression, but a substantial share  of its effect consists in a permanent loss of human capital among  affected individuals.

# metadata.dc.publisher[].value
Universitat de Barcelona. Facultat d'Economia i Empresa

# metadata.dc.source[].value
Documents de treball (Institut de Recerca en Economia Aplicada Regional i Pública (IREA))

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Earthquake exposure and schooling: impacts and mechanisms [WP]