Causal Inference in Education Research Seminar (CIERS)

This paper studies the long-run impacts of early-childhood exposure to violence (from in- utero to age 11) on young adults’ educational outcomes using two sources of large-scale data: population census data and school administrative records. I exploit the massive escalation of homicide rates in Colombia in the 1980s in which homicides increased by a factor of 10 in urban areas while it barely changed in others. Results show a significant relationship between early-life exposure to violence and lower educational outcomes. A higher homicide rate early in pregnancy and in the first 6 years of life is associated with lower educational attainment (years of schooling, school drop-out) and with lower end of high school achievement test scores at ages 17 to 24. I also find evidence of heterogenous impacts. Individuals in families in the middle of the education or income distributions seem to experience greater declines than those in the poorest or wealthiest households.