Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/311981 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 17542
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This study provides evidence that natural disasters negatively affect student outcomes, potentially explaining the lower academic achievement of students in rural areas compared to their urban counterparts in developing countries. Using data from the Colombian school census, I estimate a difference-in-differences strategy that exploits variation from an unusual rainfall shock affecting over two million people in both urban and rural Colombia. The results show that these disruptions increase school dropout rates and reduce learning outcomes for at least a decade. The effects are concentrated in rural schools, while students in urban schools remain unaffected. I explore several mechanisms and rule out the possibility that the effects are driven by selective migration or a loss of educational resources. Instead, I find evidence that the rainfall shock exacerbated poverty, pushing poorer rural children into unemployment and longer work hours.
Subjects: 
natural disasters
human capital
education
urban-rural gap
Colombia
JEL: 
I24
I25
R11
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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