Disease and Gender Gaps in Human Capital Investment: Evidence from Niger's 1986 Meningitis Epidemic
American Economic Review
vol. 107,
no. 5, May 2017
(pp. 530-35)
Abstract
This paper examines whether disease burdens, especially prevalent in the tropics, contribute significantly to widening gender gaps in educational attainment. We estimate the impact of sudden exposure to the 1986 meningitis epidemic in Niger on girls' education relative to boys. Our results suggest that increases in meningitis cases during epidemic years significantly reduce years of education disproportionately for primary school-aged going girls in areas with higher meningitis exposure. There is no significant effect for boys in the same cohort and no effects of meningitis exposure for non-epidemic years. Our findings have broader implications for climate-induced disease effects on social inequality.Citation
Archibong, Belinda, and Francis Annan. 2017. "Disease and Gender Gaps in Human Capital Investment: Evidence from Niger's 1986 Meningitis Epidemic." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 530-35. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171142Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- I14 Health and Inequality
- I24 Education and Inequality
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming