Synopsis, Childhood shocks, safety nets and cognitive skills: Panel data evidence from rural Ethiopia

Guush Berhane, Mehari Abay and Tassew Woldehanna

No 49, ESSP research notes from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: Using child-level panel data from rural areas of Ethiopia, we analyze effects of both economic and non-economic shocks on child cognition skills measured after the early childhood age window. We identify that drought, in particular, reduces child cognitive skills markedly. Food price inflation during the study period and divorce also have significant adverse effects on cognition. Promisingly, we find that the safety net program established by the Ethiopian government in 2005 to protect households from the economic effects of such shocks mitigated the reduction in cognitive skills associated with these shocks

Keywords: shock; health; social protection; capacity development; mental ability; children; social safety nets; rural areas; Ethiopia; Eastern Africa; Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148330

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:essprn:49

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