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We examine the causal impact of the 2002-2007 civil conflict in Côte d'Ivoire on children's health using household surveys collected before, during, and after the conflict, and information on the exact location and date of conflict events. Our identification strategy relies on exploiting both temporal and spatial variation across birth cohorts to measure children's exposure to the conflict. We find that children from regions more affected by the conflict suffered significant health setbacks compared with children from less affected regions. We further examine possible war impact mechanisms using rich survey data on households' experience of war. Our results suggest that conflict-induced economic losses, health impairment, displacement, and other forms of victimization are important channels through which armed conflict negatively impacts child health.  Olga Shemyakina would like to thank Georgia Institute of Technology for financial support. We are grateful to the National Statistical Institute and the Ministry of Planning and Development in Côte d'Ivoire for their permission to use the 2002 and 2008 HLSS (Enquêtes sur le Niveau de Vie) for this project. We are grateful to Richard Akresh,

We examine the causal impact of the 2002-2007 civil conflict in Côte d'Ivoire on children's health using household surveys collected before, during, and after the conflict, and information on the exact location and date of conflict events. Our identification strategy relies on exploiting both temporal and spatial variation across birth cohorts to measure children's exposure to the conflict. We find that children from regions more affected by the conflict suffered significant health setbacks compared with children from less affected regions. We further examine possible war impact mechanisms using rich survey data on households' experience of war. Our results suggest that conflict-induced economic losses, health impairment, displacement, and other forms of victimization are important channels through which armed conflict negatively impacts child health.

The impact of armed conflict on gender differentials in schooling appears to be highly context-specific, as the review of the literature and the findings from the three studies in this symposium reveal. In some settings boys' schooling is more negatively affected than that of girls. In others, the reverse is the case. Effects are largely shaped by events surrounding a conflict, prewar gender differences in educational attainments, and education and labor market opportunities in the absence of war. Rigorous evaluations of post-conflict policies and aid projects can provide useful information to address educational needs and gender differentials in these environments. JEL codes: I20, J10, O12

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