Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/269892 
Year of Publication: 
2022
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper Series No. 22
Publisher: 
Bocconi University, Centre for Research on Geography, Resources, Environment, Energy and Networks (GREEN), Milan
Abstract: 
This paper provides evidence that the rapid increase in the demand for lithium-ion batteries has reduced the education rates of individuals living in cobalt-rich regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In contrast with other minerals, I find that children in cobalt-mining villages are more likely to work outside their domestic environment and less likely to be in school. I also show that children exposed to cobalt mining are associated with lower cognitive and physical development. These results were obtained by exploiting the exogenous geographic variation of cobalt deposits before the sharp increase in the worldwide demand for cobalt-based electric batteries and using individual education attainment data. These findings suggest that the lower educational achievement of children living in cobalt-rich communities of the DRC is caused not only by a lack of solid child labor regulations (CLRs) but also by a mining industry that generates pollution.
Subjects: 
Lithium-ion Batteries
Cobalt Mining
Child Labour
JEL: 
I25
J13
O13
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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