Abstract

ORRACA-ROMANO, Dr. Pedro Paulo. Crime Exposure and Educational Outcomes in Mexico. Ens. Rev. econ. [online]. 2018, vol.37, n.2, pp.177-212. ISSN 2448-8402.  https://doi.org/10.29105/ensayos37.2-3.

Driven by drug-related crimes, homicide levels in Mexico have dramatically increased since 2007. This study examines the effect of students’ exposure to crime on educational outcomes in Mexico. Using school-level data, a panel of the country’s elementary and secondary schools is constructed to analyze the effect of local homicides on standardized test scores and grade failure rates. The results show that a one-unit increase in the homicide rate per 10,000 inhabitants is associated with a reduction in school-level test scores between 0.0035 and 0.0142 standard deviations, this is likely being driven by effects of individual test scores and by compositional changes in the student body. Additionally, a rise in the homicide rate is also associated with an increase in the grade failure rate. It is proposed that the negative effects of crime exposure are partly due to a reduction of the number of contact hours, and students not compensating for this, by studying more outside of school. Exposure to homicides has potentially long-term consequences since it may affect educational achievement levels and future income flow.

Keywords : Crime; Academic Performance; Homicides; Mexico.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )