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Education and Conflict: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Indonesia

Author

Listed:
  • Rohner, Dominic
  • Saia, Alessandro

Abstract

This paper studies the impact of school construction on the likelihood of conflict, drawing on a policy experiment in Indonesia, and collecting our own novel dataset on political violence for 289 districts in Indonesia over the period 1955-1994. We find that education has a strong, robust and quantitatively sizeable conflict-reducing impact. It is shown that the channels of transmission are both related to economic factors as well as to an increase in inter-religious trust and tolerance. Interestingly, while societal mechanisms are found to have an immediate impact, economic channels only gain importance after some years. We also show that school construction results in a shift away from violent means of expression (armed conflict) towards non-violent ones (peaceful protests).

Suggested Citation

  • Rohner, Dominic & Saia, Alessandro, 2019. "Education and Conflict: Evidence from a Policy Experiment in Indonesia," CEPR Discussion Papers 13509, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13509
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    Cited by:

    1. Lax-Martinez, Gema & Rohner, Dominic & Saia, Alessandro, 2022. "Threat of taxation, stagnation and social unrest: Evidence from 19th century sicily," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 361-371.
    2. Dominic Rohner, 2018. "Success Factors for Peace Treaties: A Review of Theory and Evidence," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 18.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    3. David Roodman, 2022. "Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Comment," Papers 2207.09036, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    4. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Religion, Education, and Development," Working Papers hal-03873758, HAL.
    5. Ulrich J. Eberle, 2020. "Damned by dams? Infrastructure and conflict," CEP Discussion Papers dp1694, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Islam and the State: Religious Education in the Age of Mass Schooling," Working Papers hal-03389196, HAL.
    7. Alnuaman Alamin & Abdulghani Muthanna & Ahmed Alduais, 2022. "A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis of the K-12 Education Policy Making in Sudan and the Need for Reforms," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440211, January.
    8. 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.
    9. Andrea Marcucci & Dominic Rohner & Alessandro Saia, 2023. "Ballot or Bullet: The Impact of the UK’s Representation of the People Act on Peace and Prosperity," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 133(652), pages 1510-1536.
    10. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Religion, Education, and the State," NBER Working Papers 27073, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Dominic Rohner, 2022. "Conflict, Civil Wars and Human Development," Cahiers de Recherches Economiques du Département d'économie 22.08, Université de Lausanne, Faculté des HEC, Département d’économie.
    12. Samuel Bazzi & Masyhur Hilmy & Benjamin Marx, 2020. "Islam and the State: Religious Education in the Age of Mass Schooling∗," Boston University - Department of Economics - The Institute for Economic Development Working Papers Series dp-349, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    13. Dominic Rohner & Mathias Thoenig, 2021. "The Elusive Peace Dividend of Development Policy: From War Traps to Macro Complementarities," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 111-131, August.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3jngk2o32k9hgasm59p1d3tmli is not listed on IDEAS

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Conflict; Civil war; Fighting; Schools; Returns to education; Polarization; Protest;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • N45 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Asia including Middle East

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