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Together or separate? Post-conflict partition, ethnic homogenization, and the provision of public schooling

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  • Swee, Eik Leong

Abstract

The partitioning of political jurisdictions is becoming an increasingly common component of agreements to end ethnic conflict, although its impact on post-conflict recovery remains unclear. This paper studies the effects of the partition which ended the 1992–1995 Bosnian War on the post-war provision of public schooling. I find that partitioned municipalities provide 58% more primary schools and 37% more teachers (per capita). Driven mainly by convergent preferences for ethnically oriented schools, however, this arrangement delivers distributional consequences: in partitioned municipalities, ethnic majority children are more likely to complete primary schooling, while for ethnic minority children it is the opposite.

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  • Swee, Eik Leong, 2015. "Together or separate? Post-conflict partition, ethnic homogenization, and the provision of public schooling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 1-15.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:128:y:2015:i:c:p:1-15
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2015.05.007
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    3. Hai-Anh H. Dang & Trung X. Hoang & Ha Nguyen, 2021. "The Long-Run and Gender-Equalizing Impacts of School Access: Evidence from the First Indochina War," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 70(1), pages 453-484.
    4. Eberle, Ulrich, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108457, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Akwasi Ampofo & Firmin Doko Tchatoka, 2019. "Reducing Public‐Private Sector Pay Differentials: The Single Spine Pay Policy As A Natural Experiment In Ghana," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 283-315, January.
    6. Panza, Laura, 2020. "The impact of ethnic segregation on schooling outcomes in Mandate Palestine," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    7. Alacevich, Caterina & Zejcirovic, Dijana, 2020. "Does violence against civilians depress voter turnout? Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(4), pages 841-865.
    8. Christoph Eder, 2014. "Displacement and education of the next generation: evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-24, December.
    9. Akresh, Richard & Caruso, German Daniel & Thirumurthy, Harsha, 2022. "Detailed geographic information, conflict exposure, and health impacts," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    10. Lazarev, Egor & Mironova, Vera, 2018. "The economic consequences of political alienation: Ethnic minority status and investment behavior in a post-conflict society," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 27-39.
    11. Swee, Eik Leong, 2015. "On war intensity and schooling attainment: The case of Bosnia and Herzegovina," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 40(PA), pages 158-172.
    12. Cinnirella, Francesco & Schueler, Ruth, 2016. "The Cost of Decentralization: Linguistic Polarization and the Provision of Education," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145832, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Testa, Patrick A., 2018. "Education and propaganda: Tradeoffs to public education provision in nondemocracies," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 66-81.
    14. Baskaran, Thushyanthan & Blesse, Sebastian, 2019. "Subnational border reforms and economic development in Africa," ZEW Discussion Papers 18-027, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2019.

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