Armed Conflict and Children's School/Work Time Allocation : evidence from Côte d'Ivoire

This paper examines the relationship between armed conflict and school/work time allocation for children aged 10 to 14 years. The paper uses household level data from Côte d'Ivoire combined with information on the exact location and date of conflict events. The identification strategy uses the specific numbers of conflict events across "départements" and self-reported victim status indicators at the individual level to measure children's exposure to the conflict. Based on a bivariate probit model, which has the advantage of considering the simultaneity of decisions in school and work, and, controlling for the individual and household characteristics that determine household choices in schooling and in child labor, my results suggest that individuals from "départements" more affected by the conflict have higher probability of being involved in economic activities and lower probability of being enrolled in school. I further examine possible war impact mechanisms using a victim status indicator at the household level. The results suggest that conflict-related household victim status is an important channel through which armed conflict negatively affects the allocation of the children's' time.