Do Macroeconomic Crises Always Slow Human Capital Accumulation?

The impact of macroeconomic crises on the investments made by parents in the human capital of their children is a question of considerable policy importance. Analysis of the effects of the profound 1988-92 macroeconomic crisis in Peru on the school...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Schady, Norbert R.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
en_US
Published: Washington, DC: World Bank 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2004/05/17742225/macroeconomic-crises-always-slow-human-capital-accumulation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/17160
Description
Summary:The impact of macroeconomic crises on the investments made by parents in the human capital of their children is a question of considerable policy importance. Analysis of the effects of the profound 1988-92 macroeconomic crisis in Peru on the schooling and employment decisions of school-age children in urban areas finds no effect on attendance rates but a significant decline in the fraction of children who are both employed and attend school. It also finds significantly higher mean educational attainment for children exposed to the crisis than for those who were not. These findings may be related: children who are not employed have more time available and may therefore put more effort into school.