The Consequences of the 1959–1961 Chinese Famine for Educational Attainment

Lay Margaret J. () and Norling Johannes ()
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Lay Margaret J.: Department of Economics, Mount Holyoke College, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA01075, USA
Norling Johannes: Department of Economics, Mount Holyoke College, 50 College Street, South Hadley, MA01075, USA

The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2020, vol. 20, issue 2, 23

Abstract: This paper finds that the Great Chinese Famine of 1959–1961 reduced lifetime educational attainment by up to 3.8 years for people who lived in areas most severely hit by the famine. Using geographical variation in famine intensity, information about place of residence during the famine, and educational attainment recorded in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, the paper demonstrates that the decline in educational attainment was particularly sharp for women. This decline interrupted substantial gains in schooling achieved in China during the middle part of the twentieth century.

Keywords: education; famine; cognition; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 N35 O12 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1515/bejeap-2019-0112

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