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Violent conflict and the child quantity–quality tradeoff

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  • Karki Nepal, Apsara
  • Halla, Martin
  • Stillman, Steven

Abstract

We show that the exposure to war-related violence increases the quantity of children temporarily, with permanent negative consequences for the quality of the current and previous cohorts. Our empirical evidence is based on Nepal, which experienced a 10 year long civil conflict of varying intensity. We exploit that villages affected by the conflict had the same trend in fertility as non-affected villages prior to the onset of conflict and employ a difference-in-differences estimator. We find that women in affected villages increased their fertility during the conflict by 19%, while child height-for-age declined by 10%. Supporting evidence suggests that the temporary fertility increase was the main pathway leading to reduced child height, as opposed to direct impacts of the conflict.

Suggested Citation

  • Karki Nepal, Apsara & Halla, Martin & Stillman, Steven, 2025. "Violent conflict and the child quantity–quality tradeoff," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(3), pages 343-377, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:demeco:v:91:y:2025:i:3:p:343-377_1
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