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The intergenerational impact of electoral violence on height and human capital

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  • Gutiérrez-Romero, Roxana

Abstract

This paper examines whether prenatal, childhood, and teenage exposure to electoral violence has any long-term effects on height and human capital in Kenya. First, using the difference-in-difference estimator, we show that areas impacted by electoral violence see increases in local food prices and a decrease in annual nightlight, suggesting important local consumption shocks. We then identify people exposed to such violence using a nationally representative survey and take advantage of the temporal and spatial variation of electoral violence in Kenya between 1992 and 2013. Using coarsened exact matching, we find that exposure to electoral violence between prenatal and the age of sixteen reduces adult height. Previous research has demonstrated that protracted, large-scale armed conflicts can cause significant nutritional shocks and pass down stunting effects to descendants. In line with these studies, we find that the low-scale but recurrent electoral violence in Kenya has impacted the height-for-age of children whose parents were exposed to such violence while they were growing up. Only boys exhibit this intergenerational effect, possibly due to their increased susceptibility to malnutrition and stunting in Sub-Saharan Africa. The fact that most electoral violence in Kenya occurs over the school holidays may help explain why, in contrast to previous studies on large-scale conflicts, childhood exposure to electoral violence has no lasting impact on educational attainment.

Suggested Citation

  • Gutiérrez-Romero, Roxana, 2024. "The intergenerational impact of electoral violence on height and human capital," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 608-630.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:220:y:2024:i:c:p:608-630
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2024.02.025
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Electoral violence; Long-term effects; Stunting; Educational attainment; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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