Olga N. Shemyakina

Remittances and labor supply in post-conflict Tajikistan

We analyze the impact of remittances on the labor supply of men and women in post-conflict Tajikistan. Individuals from remittance-receiving households are less likely to participate in the labor market and supply fewer hours when they do. The results are robust to different measures of remittances and migration. When we differentiate between regions by their exposure to the 1992-1998 armed conflict, we observe that the negative effect of remittances on the labor supply of women is primarily driven by women from the regions more exposed to fighting and destruction during the war. Remittances have a similar negative effect on the supply of labor hours worked across all regions, both for men and women. Further, in the households that do not have migrants, remittances have no effect on the labor supply by males, suggesting that migration and not remittances is the primary factor explaining male labor force participation.JEL codes: J22, Time Allocation and Labor Supply; F22, International Migration; F24, Remittances; O12, Microeconomics Analyses of Household Behavior

The labor market, education and armed conflict in Tajikistan

Shortly following its independence in 1991, Tajikistan suffered a violent civil war. This study explores the effect of this conflict on education and labor market outcomes for men and women. The results are based on the data from the 2003 and 2007 Tajik Living Standards Measurement Surveys that were separated from the 1992-1998 Tajik civil war by five and nine years, respectively. The regression analysis that controls for the cohort and regional-level exposure points toward a persistent and lasting gap in the educational attainment by women who were of school age during the war and lived in the more conflict-affected regions as compared with women the same age who lived in the lesser affected regions and also to the older generation. These empirical results support the anecdotal and observational evidence about the decline in female educational attainment in Tajikistan. Interestingly, this group of young women is more likely to hold a job as compared with the rest of the analytical sample. Conditional on being employed, men and women in the more conflict-affected areas do not receive wages that are significantly different from wages received by men and women in the lesser affected areas.

Gender-Differential Effects of Conflict on Education: The Case of the 1981-1993 Punjab Insurgency

This study explores the long-run effect of the 1981-1993 Punjab Insurgency on the educational attainment of adults who were between ages 6-16 years at the time of the insurgency, using the 2005 India Human Development Survey. We find a substantial and statistically significant negative effect of terrorism on educational attainment. To explore the channels through which the conflict affected education, we use a unique historical dataset on the annual expenditure decisions by farmers in the state of Punjab during 1978-1989. We find a significant reduction in expenditure on education by households with a high ratio of girls to boys and those residing in violence affected districts, which suggests that this reduction was one of the demand-side channels through which conflict affected education.

Exploring the Impact of Conflict Exposure during Formative Years on Labour Market Outcomes in Tajikistan

Abstract This study explores the effect of the 1992–1998 armed conflict in Tajikistan on the labour market outcomes by gender. The focus is on cohorts that were of school age during the conflict or recently entered the labour force. The regression analysis controls for the cohort and district-level exposure to conflict. Younger women but not men who also lived in regions more affected by conflict were at least 10 percentage points more likely to be employed than similarly aged women from lesser affected districts. These results suggest a change in female employment patterns potentially induced by war.