How persistent is the effect of conflict on primary education? Long-run evidence from the Rwandan genocide

I examine the long-term effect of conflict on primary education using data from Rwanda. Previous research has shown that the 1994 genocide reduced primary schooling in the short-term, but the long-term effects are not known. To identify the causal effect of the genocide, I analyze data from four cross-sectional household surveys and use a difference-in-differences identification strategy that exploits variation in conflict intensity across localities. I find that children whose educational attainment had been negatively affected by the genocide eventually caught up. By 2010, there were no detectable effects of the genocide on completed years of education.