MATH AND LANGUAGE AT WAR: THE EFFECT OF THE COLOMBIAN ARMED CONFLICT ON MATH AND LANGUAGE LEARNING (Published)
Armed conflict reduces human capital accumulation due to economic constraints on families, cuts in education spending, destruction of schools and by causing post-traumatic stress disorder in children. This paper estimates the effect of conflict on math and language learning by using the Colombia Saber (Knowledge) Tests score for 5th, 9th and 11th grades. Results suggest a small, but statistically significant impact for the 5th grade and 9th grade samples, at most of 6.5% of the test scores standard deviation; as net enrollment rates fall throughout secondary education, estimates are small or not significant for the 11th grade sample. Policy recommendations focus on providing families and children with better support networks, on fighting the growing extortions in poor neighborhoods and on special interventions in regions with the highest armed conflict levels
Keywords: Civil War, Colombia, Learning Attainment, Standardized Tests
COLLATERAL DAMAGE: Civil Conflict and Child Mortality (Review Completed - Accepted)
Civil wars are the outcome of institutional failures. Child and infant mortality risk is impacted during civil war through
reductions in household’s income and assets and through mother’s health, nutrition and stress levels. When born, children
may suer from lack of services and an environment of diseases. Using DHS and the Prio Uppsala Battle Deaths for
Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Peru, the eect of conict on infant and child mortality is estimated. The
identication strategy is based on the classication of the child’s birthyear according to periods of peace or conict. Fixed
eects regressions nd that conict is more harmful during the rst year of life and that conict intensity matters. The
ndings suggest that governments engaged in civil war ghting should nd ways to provide health and nutrition assistance
to pregnant women and to make sure that newborns have access to health and sanitation services.
Keywords: Child Mortality, Civil War, Latin America, infant mortality