Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/110112 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 8867
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the effect of the L'Aquila earthquake on the academic performance of the students of the local university. Following this traumatic event, not only are students likely to have developed an acute stress disorder, but they have also experienced a significant disruption in their learning environment because of the closure of several university buildings and the relocation to temporary premises. We compare changes in educational outcomes among students of the University of L'Aquila before and after the earthquake with changes in educational outcomes during the same time period among students enrolled at other Central Italian universities. The empirical results suggest that while this natural disaster has reduced students' probability of graduating on time by 6.6 percentage points, it has had no statistically significant effect on university drop-out in the very short-term. Additionally, the on-time graduation result masks differential gender effects.
Subjects: 
L'Aquila earthquake
academic performance
difference-in-differences
JEL: 
Q54
I23
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
200.69 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.