New Economic Opportunities and Children’s Outcomes: Negative Effects of Artisanal Mines on Primary Education
研究布基纳法索手工金矿如何影响家庭对小学教育的投入，发现采矿显著降低了男孩的入学率，但对女孩无显著影响，主要机制是机会成本上升和感知教育回报下降。
Abstract We investigate how artisanal gold mining affects household investment in primary education in Burkina Faso. Relying mostly on difference-in-difference estimations with both primary and secondary data, we find a significant, robust, and strong negative effect of artisanal mining on primary school enrolment for boys but not for girls. We explore potential channels and find that direct involvement in mining work does not explain the results. However, children appear to substitute for their parents working in mines (or other activities that developed after the mining boom). In addition, elicited perceived returns to primary education are negatively affected by the presence of mines. Both mechanisms suggest an indirect increase in the opportunity cost of education. We find no evidence of a negative income effect or of a change in school supply which could affect the direct cost of education. Our findings suggest that artisanal mining causes negative externalities on human capital accumulation that need to be addressed if mining is to contribute to poor household livelihoods.