Effects of Conflicts on Labor Market Outcome and Intimate Partner Violence: Evidence from Nepal

This study investigates the impact of conflict intensity on married women’s employment and intimate partner violence (IPV) in Nepal during and after the civil conflicts. Analyzing five waves of the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, it reveals a negative short- and long-term effect of conflict on work probabilities for women facing reduced economic opportunities and delayed human capital accumulation. However, this result masks substantial heterogeneity by subgroups. The older cohort experiences a temporary negative effect, while the impact is enduring for younger cohorts. The long-run effect of conflict intensity was more sustained for married women who were children or teenagers at the onset of the war compared to older cohorts. These results hold under IV regressions. Data availability restricts our analysis of IPV to the post-war years. The study does not find a direct impact of conflict on the stated IPV experiences of married women but identifies an indirect effect.HIGHLIGHTSConflict in Nepal affects women’s employment and intimate partner violence.Women’s employment increased during the conflict but declined post-conflict.Conflict intensity in Nepal reduced long-term employment, particularly for younger womenIntimate partner violence shows indirect rise due to reduced women’s employment.The added-worker effect in Nepal was weak, with conflict disrupting labor opportunities.