The effect of terrorism on continuing education: evidence from Pakistan

ABSTRACT Education has wide-ranging benefits to both the individual and wider society. This article investigates the consequences of terrorist incidents on whether households can further their children’s schooling. Using both the Global Terrorism Database and Pakistan’s Social and Living Standards Measurement, we find that persistent exposure to terrorism significantly reduces the likelihood that parents will continue their children’s education. The result suggests, that for every million people, an increase in terrorist incidents causes 26,501 fewer children to continue their education at the primary school education level. We also examine the results by various demographic segments and types of terrorism attacks.