Natural disasters and high-stakes exam performance: Evidence from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake

Wei Lu, Po Yang, Shilin Zheng and Sen Zhou

China Economic Review, 2023, vol. 77, issue C

Abstract: In this study, the 2008 earthquake in Wenchuan, China serves as a natural experiment for examining the effect of natural disasters on high-stakes exam performance among students who were admitted to four-year colleges between 2005 and 2011. Results of a generalized difference-in-differences model show that, on average, the earthquake reduced a student's National College Entrance Examination (NCEE) standard score by 55% of a standard deviation. The findings have implications for higher education and China's economy, because earthquake exposure lowers a student's probability of being accepted to an elite college, pursuing a major in a high-salary field, and moving to a highly developed urban area for education or employment.

Keywords: Natural disasters; Earthquakes; Academic achievement; High-stakes exams (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:77:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x22001572

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101899

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