All of Scioteca
Communities & Collections By Issue Date Authors Titles Subjects Country / Region
Profiles
Our Authors
My Account
Login

Drug battles and school achievement: evidence from Rio de Janeiro's favelas

This paper examines the effects of armed conflicts between drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro's favelas on student achievement. To identify the causal effect of violence on education, we explore variation in violence that occurs across time and space when gangs battle over territories. The evidence indicates that these battles are triggered by factors often exogenous to local socioeconomic conditions, such as the imprisonment or release of a gang leader, betrayals and revenge. Within-school estimates indicate that students from schools exposed to violence score less in math exams. The effect of violence increases with conflict intensity, duration, and proximity to exam dates; and decreases with the distance between the school and the conflict location. There is no evidence that the effect of violence persists for more than one year. Finally, we find that school supply is an important mechanism driving the achievement results; armed conflicts are significantly associated with higher teacher absenteeism, principal turnover, and temporary school closings.

Abstract

Description

Subject

Seguridad | Educación | Investigación socioeconómica

País / Región

Brasil

URI

https://scioteca.caf.com/handle/123456789/250

Date

2013

Cite from this publication

Collections

6.1 Documentos de trabajo en investigación socioeconómica

Endorsement

Review

Supplemented By

Referenced By

Creative Commons license

CC-BY-NC
Except where otherwised noted, this item's license is described as CC-BY-NC
Thumbnail Image

Files

drug-battles-school-achievement-evidence-rio-janeiro.pdf (1.31 MB)

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

CAF

Related Items

Thumbnail Image
Domestic Violence and Divorce Law: When Divorce Threats Become Credible

This paper investigates whether lowering the cost of divorce can reduce domestic violence. The cost of divorce influences the bargaining position of spouses, and thus,...

Thumbnail Image
Endogenous Taxation in Ongoing Internal Conflict: The Case of Colombia

Recent empirical evidence at the cross-country and subnational levels suggests that internal conflicts harm state capacity and tax performance. On the face of it this...

Thumbnail Image
Strategic framework for security and justice for development

Ensuring safe environments for sustainable development is the central focus of the strategic security framework for development published by CAF. The analysis explores how crime,...

Thumbnail Image
Women in Office: The Impact of Female Politicians on Gender-Based Violence Reporting

Gender-based violence in the U.S. is a silent epidemic. Twenty percent of women experience rape, yet only one in three reports it. Using FBI data...

Thumbnail Image
State Capabilities in Colombian Municipalities: Measurements and Determinants

This paper constructs a comprehensive set of State Capacity indicators for Colombian municipalities, focusing in four basic governmental capabilities: fiscal, financial, physical and operational. First,...

Thumbnail Image
Long-Term Effects of a Commodity Boom: Rubber Slavery in the Amazon

This study examines the lasting impact of the Amazon Rubber Boom (1870-1914) on contemporary income, inequality, Indigenous presence, and forest conservation. Em pirically we combine...