This article analyzes the association between civil conflicts and educational achievement by studying the Turkish case. It combines the 2005 university entrance exam scores of more than 1.6 million students and a newly constructed data set on the casualties of the Turkish–Kurdish conflict to study the association between the conflict and educational achievement of Turkish students. The results reveal a significant negative association. Combined with the already well-established positive links between education and various measures of socioeconomic development like economic growth, social equality, and public health, the results in this article demonstrate that education is one of the channels through which civil conflicts damage the well-being of societies thereby creating the conditions that perpetuate them.
AkreshRichardDe WalqueDamien. 2008. Armed Conflict and Schooling: Evidence from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. Discussion Paper No: 3516, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)Bonn, Germany.
2.
AkreshRichardVerwimpPhilipBundervoetTom. 2011. “Civil War, Crop Failure, and Child Stunting in Rwanda.” Economic Development and Cultural Change59 (4): 777–810.
3.
AlbrightJeremy J.MarinovaDani M.. 2010. Estimating Multilevel Models Using SPSS, Stata, SAS, and R. Mimeo. Bloomington: Indiana University.
4.
AlkanAhmetÇarkoğluAliFiliztekinAlpayİnceoğluFırat. 2008. Turkiye Orta Ogretim Sektorunde Katma Deger Olusumu. Ankara, Turkey: Universiteye Giris Yarisi, TUBITAK. Project No: SOBAG-104K092.
5.
BarroRobert J.1991. “Economic Growth in a Cross Section of Countries.” Quarterly Journal of Economics106 (2): 407–43.
6.
BarroRobert J.1997. Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-country Empirical Study. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
7.
BarroRobert J.1999a. “Human Capital and Growth in Cross-country Regressions.” Swedish Economic Policy Review6 (2): 237–77.
8.
BarroRobert J.1999b. “The Determinants of Democracy.” Journal of Political Economy107 (S6): S158–83.
9.
BarroRobert J.2001. “Human Capital and Growth.” American Economic Review91 (2): 12–17.
10.
BehrmanJere R.RossDavid R.SabotRichard. 2008. “Improving Quality versus Increasing the Quantity of Schooling: Estimates of Rates of Return from Rural Pakistan.” Journal of Development Economics85 (1-2): 94–104.
11.
BishopJohn Hillman. 1989. “Is the Test Score Decline Responsible for the Productivity Growth Decline?” American Economic Review79 (1): 178–97.
12.
BlattmanChristopherAnnanJeannie. 2010. “The Consequences of Child Soldiering.” Review of Economics and Statistics92 (4): 882–98.
13.
BoissiereM.KnightJohn B.SabotRichard. 1985. “Earnings, Schooling, Ability, and Cognitive Skills.” American Economic Review75 (5): 1016–30.
14.
BosworthBarry P.CollinsSusan M.. 2003. “The Empirics of Growth: An Update.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity2:113–79.
15.
BreierovaLuciaDufloEsther. 2002. “The Impact of Education on Fertility and Child Mortality: Do Father Really Matter Less Than Mothers?” NBER Working Paper 10513, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
16.
Briggs-GowanMargaret J.CarterAlice S.FordJulian D.. 2012. “Parsing the Effects of Violence Exposure in Early Childhood: Modelling Developmental Pathways.” Journal of Pediatric Psychology37 (1): 11–22.
17.
Carlton-FordSteveBoopDonielle. 2010. “Civil War and Life Chances.” International Sociology25 (1): 75–97.
18.
CeciJ. StephenWilliamsWendy M.. 2010. “Sex Differences in Math-intensive Fields.” Current Directions in Psychological Science10:1–5.
19.
ChamarbagwalaRubianaMoranHilcias E.. 2011. “The Human Capital Consequences of Civil War: Evidence from Guatemala.” Journal of Development Economics94:41–61.
20.
CheryanSapna. 2012. “Understanding the Paradox in Math-related Fields: Why Do Some Gender Gaps Remain While Others Do Not.” Sex Roles66:184–90.
21.
CicconeAntonioPapaioannouElias. 2005. “Human Capital, the Structure of Production, and Growth.” Working Papers, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra Economics, Barcelona, Spain.
22.
CollierPaul. 1999. “On the Economic Consequences of Civil War.” Oxford Economic Papers51 (1): 168–83.
23.
CollierPaulElliottV. L.HegreHåvardHoefflerAnkeReynal-QuerolMartaSambanisNicholas. 2003. Breaking the Conflict Trap, Civil War and Development Policy. Washington, DC: World Bank.
24.
CurrieJanetMorettiEnrico. 2003. “Mother’s Education and the Intergenerational Transmission of Human Capital: Evidence from College Openings.” Quarterly Journal of Economics118 (4): 1495–532.
25.
DeeThomas S.2004. “Are There Civic Returns to Education?” Journal of Public Economics88 (9-10): 1697–720.
26.
De GregorioJoseLeeJong-Wha. 2002. “Education and Income Inequality: New Evidence from Cross-country Data.” Review of Income and Wealth48 (3): 395–416.
27.
De WalqueDamien. 2006. “The Socio-demographic Legacy of the Khmer Rouge Period in Cambodia.” Population Studies60 (2): 223–31.
28.
DinçerBülentÖzaslanMetin. 2004. İlçelerin Sosyo-Ekonomik Gelişmişlik Sıralaması Araştırması. Ankara, Turkey: Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı.
29.
DowneyDouglas B.YuanAnastasia S.Vogt. 2005. “Sex Differences in School Performance During High-school: Puzzling Patterns and Possible Explanations.” The Sociological Quarterly46:299–321.
30.
DufloEstherHannaRema. 2005. “Monitorin Work: Getting Teachers to Come to School.” NBER Working Paper 11880, National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, MA.
31.
EvansDavid B.TandonAjayMurrayChristopher J. L.LauerJeremy A.. 2000. “The Comparative Efficiency of National Health Systems in Producing Health: An Analysis of 191 Countries.” GPE Discussion Paper No. 29, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
32.
FearonJames D.LaitinDavid D.. 2003. “Insurgency and Civil War.” The American Political Science Review97 (1): 75–90.
33.
FitzpatrickCarolineBarnettTraciePaganiLinda S.. 2012. “Early Exposure to Media Violence and Later Child Adjustment.” Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics33 (4): 291–97.
34.
ForgaszHelen J.HillJanell C.. 2013. “Factors Implicated in High Mathematics Achievement.” International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education11:481–99.
35.
GentileDouglas A.MathiesonLindsay C.CrickNicki R.. 2011. “Media Violence Associations with the Form and Function of Aggression among Elementary School Children.” Social Development20 (2): 213–32.
36.
GhobarahH. AdamHuthPaulRussettBruce. 2003. “Civil Wars Kill and Maim People—Long after the Shooting Stops.” American Political Science Review97:189–202.
37.
GlaeserEdward L.PortaRafael LaLopez-de-SilaneFlorencioShleiferAndrei. 2004. “Do Institutions Cause Growth?” Journal of Economic Growth9 (3): 271–303.
Guha SapirDebaratiVan PanhuisWillem G.. 2003. “The Significance of Conflict Related Mortality in Civilian Populations.” Lancet361:2126–28.
40.
GundersonElizabethRamirezGerardoLevineSusan C.BeilockSian L.. 2012. “The Role of Parents and Teachers in the Development of Gender Related Math Attitudes.” Sex Roles66:153–66.
41.
HanushekEric A.1992. “The trade-off between Child Quantity and Quality.” Journal of Political Economy100 (1): 84–117.
42.
HanushekEric A.2002. “Teacher Quality.” In Teacher Quality, edited by IzumiT.EversWilliamson M., 1–13. Stanford, CA: Hoover Press.
43.
HanushekEric. 2009. “The Economic Value of Education and Cognitive Skills.” In Handbook of Education Policy Research, edited by SykesGarySchneiderBarbaraPlankDavid N., 39–56. New York: Routledge.
44.
HanushekEric A.2011. “The Economic Value of Higher Teacher Quality.” Economics of Education Review30:466–79.
45.
HanushekEric A.JamisonDean T.JamisonElliot A.WoessmannLudger. 2008. “Education and Economic Growth: It Is Not Just Going to School, But Learning Something While There That Matters.” Education Next8 (2): 62–70.
46.
HanushekEric A.KimkoDennis D.. 2000. “Schooling, Labor-force Quality, and the Growth of Nations.” American Economic Review90 (5): 1184–208.
47.
HanushekEric A.RivkinSteven G.. 2006. “Teacher Quality.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by HanushekEric A.WelchFinis, Vol. 2, 742. Amsterdam: North Holland.
48.
HanushekEric A.WoessmannLudger. 2007. The Role of Education Quality in Economic Growth. Working Paper 4122, World Bank Policy Research, World Bank, Washington, DC.
49.
HanushekEric A.WoessmannLudger. 2008. “The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development.” Journal of Economic Literature46:607–68.
50.
HanushekEric A.WoessmannLudger. 2011. “The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by HanushekEric A.MachinStephenWoessmannLudger, Vol. 3, 89–200. Amsterdam: North Holland.
51.
HanushekEric A.WoessmannLudger. 2012. “Schooling Educational Achievement, and the Latin American Growth Puzzle.” Journal of Development Economics99 (2): 497–512.
52.
HanushekEric A.ZhangLei. 2009. “Quality-consistent Estimates of International Schooling and Skill Gradients.” Journal of Human Capital3 (2): 107–43.
53.
HeckmanJames J.LochnerLance J.ToddPetra E.. 2006. “Earnings Functions, Rates of Return and Treatment Effects: The Mincer Equation and Beyond.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, edited by HanushekEric A.WelchFinis, Vol. 1, 307–458. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
54.
HeilbronnerNancy N.2013. “The STEM Pathway for Women: What Has Changed?” Gifted Child Quarterly57 (1): 39–55.
55.
HoefflerAnkeReynal-QuerolMarta. 2003. Measuring the Costs of Conflict. Oxford, England: Center for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.
56.
JamisonEliot A.JamisonDean T.HanushekEric A.. 2007. “The Effects of Education Quality on Income Growth and Mortality Decline.” Economics of Education Review26 (6): 771–88.
57.
KibrisArzu. 2012. The Polarization Trap. Sabanci University working paper. Sabanci UniversityID:10.5900/SU_FASS_WP.2012.19320.
58.
KimDoo HwanLawHelen. 2012. “Gender Gap in Math Test Scores in South Korea and Hog Kong: Role of Family Background and Single-sex Schooling.” International Journal of Educational Development32 (1): 92–103.
59.
KruegerAlan B.LindahlMikael. 2001. “Education for Growth: Why and for Whom?” Journal of Economic Literature39 (4): 1101–36.
60.
LaiBrianThyneClayton. 2007. “The Effect of Civil War on Education, 1980-97.” Journal of Peace Research44 (3): 277–92.
61.
LazearEdward P.2003. “Teacher Incentives.” Swedish Economic Policy Review10 (3): 179–214.
62.
LeeDoo WonLeeTong Hun. 1995. “Human Capital and Economic Growth Tests Based on the International Evaluation of Educational Achievement.” Economics Letters47 (2): 219–25.
63.
LipsetSeymour Martin. 1959. “Some Social Requisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy.” American Political Science Review53 (1): 69–105.
64.
LochnerLance J.MorettiEnrico. 2004. “The Effect of Education on Crime: Evidence from Prison Inmates, Arrests, and Self-reports.” American Economic Review94 (1): 155–89.
65.
MachinStephenMarieOlivierVujicSuncica. 2011. “The Crime Reducing Effect of Education.” Royal Economic Society. Economic Journal121 (552): 463–84.
66.
MankiwN. GregoryRomerDavidWeilDavid N.. 1992. “A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth.” Quarterly Journal of Economics107 (2): 407–37.
67.
McDonaldLaura. 2002. “The International Operational Response to the Psychological Wounds of War: Understanding and Improving Psycho-social Interventions.” Working Paper No.7, Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University, Medford, MA.
68.
MerroucheOuarda. 2011. “The Long Term Educational Cost of War: Evidence from Landmine Contamination in Cambodia.” Journal of Development Studies47 (3): 399–416.
69.
MilliganKevinMorettiEnricoOreopoulosPhilip. 2004. “Does Education Improve Citizenship? Evidence from the United States and the United Kingdom.” Journal of Public Economics88 (9-10): 1667–95.
70.
MulliganCasey B.1999. “Galton versus the Human Capital Approach to Inheritance.” Journal of Political Economy107 (6): S184–224.
71.
MurnaneRichard J.WillettJohn B.DuhaldebordeYvesTylerJohn H.. 2000. “How Important Are the Cognitive Skills of Teenagers in Predicting Subsequent Earnings.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management19 (4): 547–68.
72.
PoirierThomas. 2012. “The Effects of Armed Conflict on Schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa.” International Journal of Educational Development32:341–51.
73.
PrzeworskiAdamAlvarezMichael E.CheibubJose AntonioLimongiFernando. 2000. Democracy and Development: Political Institutions and Material Well-being in the World, 1950–1990. New York: Cambridge University Press.
74.
PsacharopoulosGeorgePatrinosHarry Anthony. 2004. “Returns to Investment in Education: A Further Update.” Education Economics12 (2): 111–34.
ShemyakinaOlga. 2011. “The Effect of Armed Conflict on Accumulation of Schooling: Results from Tajikistan.” Journal of Development Economics95:186–200.
77.
SianesiBarbaraVan ReenenJohn. 2003. “The Returns to Education: Macroeconomics.” Journal of Economic Surveys17 (2): 157–200.
78.
SinghPrakashShemyakinaOlga. 2013. Gender-differential Effects of Conflict on Education: The Case of the 1981-1993 Punjab Insurgency. Mimeo (unpublished manuscript).
79.
SteenbergenMarco R.JonesBradford S.. 2002. “Modeling Multilevel Data Structures.” American Journal of Political Science46 (1): 218–37.
WoessmannLudger. 2003. “Specifying Human Capital.” Journal of Economic Surveys17 (3): 239–70.
83.
WoodElisabeth Jean. 2008. “The Social Processes of Civil War: The Wartime Transformation of Social Networks.” Annual Review of Political Science11:539–61.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
