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Not all that Glitters Is Gold: Gold Boom, Child Labor and Schooling in Colombia

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  • Rafael José Santos

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of the boom in international gold prices on child labor and schooling in Colombia. I first set up a simple agricultural household model of child labor and commodity prices hocks which guides the empirical analysis. Then, I use individual level information from the censuses of 1985, 1993 (when prices where stable) and 2005 (when prices surged) merged with regional data on gold production capabilities. I define Gold Boom as an interaction between regional gold production capabilities and the international price of gold. I find that child labor is increasing (0.3 standard deviations) and school attendance is decreasing (0.9 standard deviations) in the measure of gold boom. Accordingly, the gold boom decreases school attainment (0.2 standard deviations). This is consistent with the model when initial child labor is low and substitution effects dominate income effects. Finally, I find that the years of education of the head of the head of the household but not her ownership of assets mitigate the collateral effects of the gold boom.

Suggested Citation

  • Rafael José Santos, 2014. "Not all that Glitters Is Gold: Gold Boom, Child Labor and Schooling in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 12060, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:012060
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    File URL: https://repositorio.uniandes.edu.co/bitstream/handle/1992/8505/dcede2014-31.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Grant Miller & B. Piedad Urdinola, 2010. "Cyclicality, Mortality, and the Value of Time: The Case of Coffee Price Fluctuations and Child Survival in Colombia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(1), pages 113-155, February.
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    5. Acemoglu, Daron & García-Jimeno, Camilo & Robinson, James A., 2012. "Finding Eldorado: Slavery and long-run development in Colombia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 534-564.
    6. Krisztina Kis-Katos & Robert Sparrow, 2011. "Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 46(4), pages 722-749.
    7. Robert Jensen, 2000. "Agricultural Volatility and Investments in Children," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 399-404, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Iva Trako & Maria Micaela Sviatschi & Guadalupe Kavanaugh, 2018. "Access to Justice, Gender Violence and Children: Evidence from Women’s Justice Centers in Peru," Working Papers 2018-03, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    2. Maria Micaela Sviatschi, 2018. "Making a Narco: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life Paths," Working Papers sviatschi_making-a-narco_, Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Research Program in Development Studies..
    3. Zabsonré, Agnès & Agbo, Maxime & Somé, Juste, 2018. "Gold exploitation and socioeconomic outcomes: The case of Burkina Faso," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 206-221.
    4. Ana María Iregui-Bohórquez & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Ana María Tribín-Uribe, 2015. "Mujer rural y violencia doméstica en Colombia," Borradores de Economia 14063, Banco de la Republica.
    5. Maria Micaela Sviatschi, 2019. "Making a Narco: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life Paths," Working Papers 2019-28, Princeton University. Economics Department..
    6. Iader Giraldo & Ricardo Arguello & Nataly Herrera, 2019. "Commodity Booms, Human Capital, and Economic Growth: An Application to Colombia," Working Papers MPIA 2019-12, PEP-MPIA.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Colombia; Natural Resources; Gold mining; Child Labor; Education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D04 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Policy: Formulation; Implementation; Evaluation
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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