The long shadow of conflict on human capital : Intergenerational evidence from Peru

Hidalgo-Aréstegui, Alessandra and Porter, Catherine and Sánchez, Alan and Singhal, Saurabh (2025) The long shadow of conflict on human capital : Intergenerational evidence from Peru. Journal of Development Economics, 174: 103468. ISSN 0304-3878

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Abstract

This paper estimates the intergenerational impacts of mothers’ exposure to the 1980–2000 Peruvian civil conflict on their children’s socio-emotional skills development. We combine longitudinal data, which measures skills across a child’s life, with historical geo-located conflict data. Exploiting spatial and temporal variation in conflict episodes, we find that mothers’ exposure to conflict has adverse intergenerational effects on their children’s socio-emotional outcomes of agency and pride. These effects are present at ages 8 and 12 and are robust to alternative specifications. At age 15, mothers’ conflict exposure increases children’s propensity to engage in crime-related risky behavior. The analysis of mechanisms highlights the role of reduced parental investments in children, driven by constrained household resources, a quality–quantity trade-off, and diminished maternal empowerment. Finally, an examination of the mother’s migration history reveals that migration decisions of her parents during the conflict partially mitigated the adverse effects on the socio-emotional development of their grandchildren.