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Violence, psychological stress and educational performance during the “war on drugs” in Mexico

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  • Michaelsen, Maren M.
  • Salardi, Paola

Abstract

We provide evidence that violence in Mexico related to the “war on drugs” from 2006 to 2011 had a significant negative impact on educational performance that is primarily attributable to acute psychological stress among students in the immediate aftermath of local violence. Using geographically and temporally disaggregated data we demonstrate that the largest impacts of violence on educational performance result from homicides committed within the vicinity of schools during the week immediately prior to national standardized tests. This short-term impact increases with geographic proximity and levels of violence, and dramatically exceeds the effects of long-term violence spread over a full school year.

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  • Michaelsen, Maren M. & Salardi, Paola, 2020. "Violence, psychological stress and educational performance during the “war on drugs” in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:143:y:2020:i:c:s0304387818303572
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102387
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    Cited by:

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    2. Pedro Paulo Orraca Romano, 2015. "Crime Exposure and Educational Outcomes in Mexico," Working Paper Series 7715, Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School.
    3. Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia, 2023. "Violence-induced migration and peer effects in academic performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    4. Bharati, Tushar, 2022. "The long shadow of the Kargil War: The effect of early-life stress on education," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).
    5. Stephen Machin & Matteo Sandi & Steve Machin, 2024. "Crime and Education," CESifo Working Paper Series 11450, CESifo.
    6. Padilla-Romo, María & Peluffo, Cecilia, 2023. "Persistence of the Spillover Effects of Violence and Educational Trajectories," IZA Discussion Papers 16374, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Pedro P. Orraca‐Romano & Eunice D. Vargas‐Valle, 2020. "Drug‐related violence and the decline in the number of Mexican cross‐border workers," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 485-502, May.
    8. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Khanna, Gaurav & Marino, Victoria & Tumen, Semih, 2024. "Hometown Conflict and Refugees' Integration Efforts," IZA Discussion Papers 16862, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Gustavo J Bobonis & Roberto Castro & Juan S Morales, 2020. "Legal Reforms, Conditional Cash Transfers, and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Mexico," Working Papers tecipa-678, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    10. Hernando Grueso, 2024. "Heterogeneous effects of violence on student achievement: Evidence from Colombia," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 1536-1569, March.
    11. Sukanya Basu & Sarah Pearlman, 2017. "Violence and migration: evidence from Mexico’s drug war," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-29, December.
    12. Anousheh Alamir & Tillmann Heidelk, 2020. "Natural Disasters and Education," Working Papers ECARES 2020-05, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    13. Haugan, Gregory L. & Santos, Rafael, 2024. "Beheading a Hydra: Kingpin Extradition, Homicides, Education Outcomes, and the End of Medellin’s Pax Mafiosa," Documentos CEDE 21073, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    14. Bertoni, Eleonora & Di Maio, Michele & Molini, Vasco & Nisticò, Roberto, 2019. "Education is forbidden: The effect of the Boko Haram conflict on education in North-East Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    15. Aldeco Leo Lorenzo Rodrigo & Jurado Jose A. & Ramírez-Álvarez Aurora A., 2022. "Internal Migration and Drug Violence in Mexico," Working Papers 2022-11, Banco de México.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Violence; Primary educational performance; Psychological stress; Mexico;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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