The Long-Term Impacts of Violent Conflicts on Human Capital: US Bombing and, Education, Earnings, Health, Fertility and Marriage in Cambodia

Type Report
Title The Long-Term Impacts of Violent Conflicts on Human Capital: US Bombing and, Education, Earnings, Health, Fertility and Marriage in Cambodia
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2017
URL http://business.okstate.edu/site-files/docs/ecls-working-papers/OKSWPS1707.pdf
Abstract
We combined household surveys and the intensity of bombing to investigate the long-term
impact of U.S. bombing during the 1969-1973 period on education, earnings, health, fertility
and marriage in Cambodia. The novelty of this paper consists of the use of the quantity of
bombs dropped in each geographic district, which allows the estimation of the effects of the
intensity of bombing. Taking into account this intensive margin adds significant insights to
using a binary exposure to bombing that has been reported in previous research. We find
that one standard deviation increase in the intensity of bombing during 1969-1973 reduced
years of schooling by about 0.11-0.23. The effects for men are larger than those for women.
Fertility (total births) increased by 0.20 and age at first marriage for girls declined by 0.32
year. The reduction in years of education completed do not seem to have affected earnings,
however. Similarly, we did not detect any significant effect on health.

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