Wars and Child Health: Evidence from the Eritrean-Ethiopian Conflict

Abstract

Conflict between and within countries can have lasting health and economic consequences, but identifying such effects can be empirically challenging. This paper uses household survey data from Eritrea to estimate the effect of exposure to the 1998-2000 Eritrea-Ethiopia war on children's health. The identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in the conflict's geographic extent and timing and the exposure of different birth cohorts to the fighting. The unique survey data include details on each household's migration history, which allows us to measure a child's geographic location during the war and without which war exposure would be incorrectly classified. War-exposed children have lower height-for-age Z-scores, with similar effects for children born before or during the war. Both boys and girls who are born during the war experience negative impacts due to conflict. Effects are robust to including region-specific time trends, alternative conflict exposure measures, and mother fixed effects.

Figure 1

Eritrea and Ethiopia Regional Map Indicating Conflict Sites Notes: The main fighting between Eritrea and Ethiopia occurred around the areas of Badme, Tsorona-Zalambessa, and Bure, which are noted on the map. Map source: Constructed by Rafael Garduño-Rivera in ArcGIS.

Figure 2

Height-for-age Z-scores by Month and Year of Birth and War Exposure in Eritrea in 2002 (War and Post-War Period) Notes: Kernel-weighted local polynomial regression (using Epanechnikov kernel) of height-for-age Z-score on month and year of birth. Dashed line indicates children living in war regions. Solid line indicates children living in non-war regions. Vertical dashed lines show the starting (May 1998) and the ending dates (December 2000) of the war. Birth cohorts were either born before the war started, during the war, or after the war ended. Data source: 2002 Eritrea Demographic and Health Survey.