Effects of Armed Conflict on Educational Outcomes in Turkey

ABSTRACT. This study is the first attempt to evaluate the educational consequences of a 30-year-old internal armed conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish insurgents, one manifestation of Turkey’s prolonged Kurdish problem. To tackle the endogeneity of conflict and omitted variable bias, I implement a difference-in-differences estimation method, in which I exploit variations in exposure to conflict across provinces and over time. Estimation results suggest the presence of a robust negative association between exposure to conflict and children’s educational outcomes. This estimated negative association appears to be stronger for female children, for upper-secondary school outcomes, and for those who are exposed to conflict for a longer time period. The robustness analyses purport that the conflict’s estimated negative impacts are unlikely to be driven by either conflict-induced migration or underlying provincespecific trends.

Keywords: Armed Conflict, Educational Attainment, Turkey.

Effects of Armed Conflict on Educational Outcomes in Turkey Ali BERKER Alternatif Politika, Cilt 6, Sayı 2, Eylül 2014