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Detrimental effects of an economic crisis on student cognitive achievement – A natural experiment from Palestine

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  • Bisharat, Khaled
  • Christ, Alexander
  • Kröner, Stephan

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the differential effect of regional economic prosperity on mean student cognitive achievement by analysing data from a “natural experiment” in Palestine. Its main regions, Gaza and the West Bank, inhabited by a population sharing history, culture and gene pool, were only recently separated, yet distinctively affected by geopolitical events. The “experimental group”, living in Gaza, suffered from an enduring politico-economic crisis treatment, while the “control group”, inhabitants of the West Bank, was exposed to a much shorter and milder crisis. As a manipulation check, we used economic data reported by Etkes and Zimring (2015), who uncovered a severe and lasting decrease in household welfare and labour productivity in Gaza. As dependent variables, we used achievement scores of TIMSS maths and science students, which displayed only negligible pro-West Bank, pre-crisis differences (maths: Cohen's d = −0.04; t = −0.56; science: d = 0.11; t = 1.48). This margin grew during the crisis (maths: d = 0.17; t = 2.65; science: d = 0.26; t = 4.25) and even more so in the post-crisis phase (maths: d = 0.38; t = 5.09; science: d = 0.46; t = 6.76).

Suggested Citation

  • Bisharat, Khaled & Christ, Alexander & Kröner, Stephan, 2020. "Detrimental effects of an economic crisis on student cognitive achievement – A natural experiment from Palestine," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:intell:v:79:y:2020:i:c:s0160289620300131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intell.2020.101435
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    References listed on IDEAS

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