Kofol, Chiara and Ciarli, Tommaso (2017) Child labor and conflict: evidence from Afghanistan. Working Paper. Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF), Bonn.

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Abstract

We study the impact of conflict on both the extensive and the intensive margin of child labor in Afghanistan. We identify and test two main mechanisms. First, if conflict reduces a household income through a decline in parent's compensations, child labor may insure against the decrease in consumption (extensive margin). Second, a child may work longer hours if the marginal benefits of working under conflict is greater than its marginal cost, which may depend on the relative compensations between adults and children, and on the alternative activities (e.g. schooling). Using detailed conflict data from the Afghan War Diary we identify the effect of conflict relying on a shift-share IV strategy. We find that conflict increases the probability that girls work, but reduces the number of hours worked. Our results suggest that this is due to a decrease in household income and an increase in the relative compensations of adults.

Item Type:	Reports and working papers (Working Paper)
Additional Information:	ZEF- Discussion Papers on Development Policy No. 240
Keywords:	Afghanistan, child labor, school attendance, conflict
Schools and Departments:	School of Business, Management and Economics > SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labour > HD0072 Economic development. Development economics. Economic growth
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Tommaso Ciarli
Date Deposited:	29 Aug 2017 08:47
Last Modified:	29 Aug 2017 09:52
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/69927

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