Violence-induced migration and peer effects in academic performance

María Padilla-Romo and Cecilia Peluffo

Journal of Public Economics, 2023, vol. 217, issue C

Abstract: We document that local violence generates spillover effects beyond areas where violence takes place, via out-migration from violence-affected areas and peer exposure to violence. In the context of the Mexican war on drugs, we use violence-induced student migration as an exogenous source of variation in peer exposure to violence to estimate its effects on the academic performance of non-moving students in areas not directly affected by violence. Our results show that municipalities that face more violence experience higher rates of student out-migration. In receiving schools in areas not directly affected by violence, adding a new peer who was exposed to local violence to a class of 20 students decreases incumbents’ academic performance by 2 percent of a standard deviation. Negative effects are more pronounced among girls and high-achieving students.

Keywords: Local violence; Out-migration; In-migration; Peer effects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I25 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:217:y:2023:i:c:s0047272722001803

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2022.104778

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