Returns to farm child labor in Tanzania

In developing countries, the opportunity costs of children’s time can significantly hinder universal education. This paper studies one of these opportunity costs: we estimate the agricultural productivity of children aged 10 to 15 years old using the LSMS-ISA panel survey in Tanzania. Since child labor can be endogenous, we exploit the panel structure of the data and instrument child labor with changes in the age composition of the household. One day of child work leads to an increase in production value by roughly US$0.89. Children enrolled in school work 26 fewer days than nonenrolled children. Compensating enrolled children for loss in income can be accomplished with monthly payments of$1.92. However, a complete simulation of a hypothetical conditional cash transfer shows that even $10/month transfers would fail to achieve universal school enrollment of children aged 10 to 15 years old

The Effect of the Universal Primary Education Program on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Tanzania

The purpose of this article is to study the effect of education on labor market participation and household consumption in a rural environment. The Tanzanian Universal Primary Education (UPE) program, which provides variations in education across locations and over time, is used as a natural experiment. Exploiting these two exogenous variations to instrument education, I find that education increases household consumption, especially in agriculture and in nonfarm self-employment activities. I also provide evidence that education increases the probability of working in agriculture. These results, initially surprising, suggest that returns to education in agriculture are positive, provided that the skills taught at school are suitable for agriculture

Three essays on the equity of access to education in sub-saharan Africa

Si de nombreux efforts ont été déployés pour améliorer l’accès à l’éducation en Afrique subsaharienne, la proportion d’enfants qui interrompent leur scolarité avant la fin du cycle primaire reste encore très élevée. Pour tenter de répondre à ce défi majeur, cette thèse se propose d’examiner les déterminants de la demande d’éducation dans un environnement rural exposé à de nombreux risques. Le premier chapitre s’intéresse à la place essentielle, et pourtant peu étudiée, que tiennent les coûts d’opportunité du temps des enfants dans les choix éducatifs. Il s’avère dans ce cas nécessaire d’estimer la productivité du travail des enfants afin d’identifier les coûts susceptibles de compromettre leur scolarisation. Afin de mieux appréhender les choix en matière d’éducation, le deuxième chapitre dresse quant à lui une estimation des bénéfices de l’éducation dans un contexte agricole qui se distingue à la fois par un accès limité aux nouvelles technologies et par la prédominance d’exploitations familiales de petites tailles. Enfin, le troisième chapitre interroge les effets des chocs de productivité sur les décisions de scolarisation et sur les performances scolaires des enfants. Deux critères retiennent notre attention, l'âge auquel les enfants sont confrontés à ces chocs et leur intensité. Ce sujet nous semble d’autant plus pertinent que la fréquence de ces chocs ne cesse aujourd’hui d’augmenter. À travers ces trois chapitres centrés sur la Tanzanie rurale, cette thèse offre ainsi un aperçu du rôle des politiques publiques dans la protection et le développement de l’éducation.Despite numerous investments that have been made to increase access to education in sub-Saharan Africa, a noteworthy share of children drop out of school prior to completing primary education. To address this issue, this thesis examines the factors that drive education decisions in a rural risky environment. The first chapter focuses on one of the core determinant of education investment that has been under-explored, the opportunity costs of education. To identify these costs that can significantly hinder education, we determine children's productivity on the farm and provide an estimate range of the value of one day of child labor. In order to better understand education decisions in rural sub-Saharan Africa, the second chapter assesses the different benefits of education in rural Tanzania, where family farm is the dominant structure in agriculture and where the technology level is low. Finally, the third chapter investigates whether productivity shocks are detrimental to educational achievement and children’s cognitive skills by considering two particular aspects, the age at which shocks occur, and the length of shocks. This subject is all the more relevant today when the number of productivity shocks is growing. Throughout these three chapters which focus on rural Tanzania, this thesis provides some insight into the role of public policies in protecting and promoting education

Good Or Bad Timing? The Effects Of Productivity Shocks On Education And On Schooling Performance.

It is often argued that negative productivity shocks have adverse effects on education in developing countries. In this paper, I assert that positive productivity shocks can also come at the expense of education. I present a theoretical model to predict the mechanisms when shocks occur in early childhood and in school-age. To capture exogenous shocks in productivity, I exploit variation in intensity of climate and prices across location and over time. The empirical part provides evidence that in early childhood, positive productivity shocks have persistent positive consequences on schooling performance. In contrast, the relationship becomes counter-cyclical when children are of school age. Current positive shocks increase child labor, reduce schooling performance, and decreases the education attainment when shocks become recurrent

Trois essais sur l'équité d'accès à l'éducation en Afrique subsaharienne

Despite numerous investments that have been made to increase access to education in sub-Saharan Africa, a noteworthy share of children drop out of school prior to completing primary education. To address this issue, this thesis examines the factors that drive education decisions in a rural risky environment. The first chapter focuses on one of the core determinant of education investment that has been under-explored, the opportunity costs of education. To identify these costs that can significantly hinder education, we determine children's productivity on the farm and provide an estimate range of the value of one day of child labor. In order to better understand education decisions in rural sub-Saharan Africa, the second chapter assesses the different benefits of education in rural Tanzania, where family farm is the dominant structure in agriculture and where the technology level is low. Finally, the third chapter investigates whether productivity shocks are detrimental to educational achievement and children’s cognitive skills by considering two particular aspects, the age at which shocks occur, and the length of shocks. This subject is all the more relevant today when the number of productivity shocks is growing. Throughout these three chapters which focus on rural Tanzania, this thesis provides some insight into the role of public policies in protecting and promoting education.Si de nombreux efforts ont été déployés pour améliorer l’accès à l’éducation en Afrique subsaharienne, la proportion d’enfants qui interrompent leur scolarité avant la fin du cycle primaire reste encore très élevée. Pour tenter de répondre à ce défi majeur, cette thèse se propose d’examiner les déterminants de la demande d’éducation dans un environnement rural exposé à de nombreux risques. Le premier chapitre s’intéresse à la place essentielle, et pourtant peu étudiée, que tiennent les coûts d’opportunité du temps des enfants dans les choix éducatifs. Il s’avère dans ce cas nécessaire d’estimer la productivité du travail des enfants afin d’identifier les coûts susceptibles de compromettre leur scolarisation. Afin de mieux appréhender les choix en matière d’éducation, le deuxième chapitre dresse quant à lui une estimation des bénéfices de l’éducation dans un contexte agricole qui se distingue à la fois par un accès limité aux nouvelles technologies et par la prédominance d’exploitations familiales de petites tailles. Enfin, le troisième chapitre interroge les effets des chocs de productivité sur les décisions de scolarisation et sur les performances scolaires des enfants. Deux critères retiennent notre attention, l'âge auquel les enfants sont confrontés à ces chocs et leur intensité. Ce sujet nous semble d’autant plus pertinent que la fréquence de ces chocs ne cesse aujourd’hui d’augmenter. À travers ces trois chapitres centrés sur la Tanzanie rurale, cette thèse offre ainsi un aperçu du rôle des politiques publiques dans la protection et le développement de l’éducation

Is migration drought-induced in Mali? An empirical analysis using panel data on Malian localities over the 1987-2009 period

This paper combines population census data and climate data to estimate the volume of migrations induced by the drought events that have hit Mali since the late 1980s. The results show that the droughts that have unevenly affected the regions of Mali have had the effect of increasing migration from rural to urban areas. This is true for both men and women, regardless of the age group considered. Between 1998 and 2009, droughts translate into an additional net outflow of 7,134 male and 6,281 female rural migrants per year. The effect of drought episodes, however, differs according to localities and rural households' capacity to adapt to climatic constraints: it fades in localities characterized by more diversified crops and in those located in the Sudano-Sahelian and Sudano-Guinean zones that receive more rainfall on average. Climate shocks also had an impact on international mobility: over the 2004-2009 period, around 2,000 additional departures per year can be attributed to the dry episodes that hit Mali during the 2000s. We forecast that, under different climate scenarios and population growth projection, internal and international mobility induced by droughts events will substantially grow in the next decades

Migration response to drought. An empirical analysis using panel data on Malian localities over the 1987-2009 period

This paper combines population and climate data to estimate the volume of migration induced by the drought events that have hit Mali since the late 1980s. The results show that droughts have had the effect of decreasing net migration rates in the affected localities. This is true for both men and women, regardless of their age. The effect of drought episodes, however, is found to differ according to localities and households’ capacity to adapt to climatic constraints: it fades in localities characterized by more diversified crops and in areas that receive more rainfall on average. Climate shocks also had an impact on international mobility: over the 2004–2009 period, around 2300 additional departures per year can be attributed to the droughts that hit Mali during the 2000s. We forecast that, under different climate scenarios and population growth projections, mobility induced by drought events will substantially grow in the next decades

Is migration drought-induced in Mali? An empirical analysis using panel data on Malian localities over the 1987-2009 period

International audienc

Is migration drought-induced in Mali? An empirical analysis using panel data on Malian localities over the 1987-2009 period

International audienc