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Impact of Natural Disasters on Education Outcomes: Evidence from the 1987–89 Locust Plague in Mali

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Listed:
  • Philippe De Vreyer
  • Nathalie Guilbert
  • Sandrine Mesple-Somps

Abstract

This paper estimates the long-run impact of a large income shock based on regional variations in the 1987–89 locust plague in Mali. We take comprehensive population census data to construct birth cohorts of individuals and compare those born and living in the years and villages affected by locust plagues with other cohorts. We find a clear, strong impact on the educational outcomes of children living in rural areas, but no impact at all on children living in urban areas. School enrolment by boys born or less than four at the time of shock is found to be affected. School enrolment by boys born in 1987–88, the main infestation years, is found to be hardest hit by the plagues. However, although the impact on school enrolment figures is greater for boys than girls, the educational attainments of girls attending school and living in rural areas are harder hit than the boys. Our controls for individuals' potentially selective migration behaviour and for differences in school infrastructures do nothing to change our results. Our findings are also robust to controls for age misreporting and variations in the cohort cut-off point.

Suggested Citation

  • Philippe De Vreyer & Nathalie Guilbert & Sandrine Mesple-Somps, 2015. "Impact of Natural Disasters on Education Outcomes: Evidence from the 1987–89 Locust Plague in Mali," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 24(1), pages 57-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:24:y:2015:i:1:p:57-100.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/eju018
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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Jun & Yang, Juan & Li, Bo, 2017. "Pain of disasters: The educational cost of exogenous shocks evidence from Tangshan Earthquake in 1976," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 27-49.
    2. Chinh T. Mai & Akira Hibiki, 2023. "How Does Flood Affect Children Differently? The Impact of Flood on Children’s Education, Labor, Food Consumption, and Cognitive Development," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-1211, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    3. Valeria Groppo & Kati Kraehnert, 2017. "The impact of extreme weather events on education," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 433-472, April.
    4. Nadia Benali (a) and Rochdi Feki (b), 2020. "The Relationship between Natural Disasters, Education, ICT and Economic Growth:Empirical Evidence from ARDL Bounds Testing Approach," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 45(4), pages 93-111, December.
    5. Doumbia, Macoura & de Walque, Damien B. C. M., 2025. "Natural Disasters and Perceived Returns to Education," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11220, The World Bank.
    6. Pierre E. Biscaye, 2025. "Agricultural shocks and long-term conflict risk: Evidence from desert locust swarms," HiCN Working Papers 436, Households in Conflict Network.
    7. Esther Delesalle, 2019. "Good Or Bad Timing? The Effects Of Productivity Shocks On Education And On Schooling Performance," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2019021, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    8. Somdeep Chatterjee, 2022. "How Hard Did That Sting? Estimating the Economic Costs of Locust Attacks on Agricultural Production†," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(1), pages 434-459, March.
    9. Conte, Bruno & Piemontese, Lavinia & Tapsoba, Augustin, 2023. "The power of markets: Impact of desert locust invasions on child health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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