RECONNECT: increasing student well-being after two years of COVID-19 disruption
[Working Paper]
with Jana Vyrastekova, Sara Arts, Constantina Markou
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown measures caused young people aged 14-25 to suffer particularly from loneliness and disconnect. We developed and tested a simple, cost-effective intervention called RECONNECT to increase student well-being. RECONNECT took place at a Dutch university in May-June 2022, and it consisted of three plenary meetings and a series of self-organized, small-group events. We perform a multivariate analysis of data from 150 students, including RECONNECT participants and non-participants. In parallel, we analyze qualitative data from six in-depth interviews as well as open feedback provided by participants. Our findings show the effectiveness of this simple intervention, which gave the students the possibility to reconnect socially with their academic peers. Prior to the intervention, participants who self-selected into RECONNECT reported heightened loneliness (1.13 points compared to the control group, p-value=0.017) and decreased well-being (5 points compared to the control group, p-value<0.001). The intervention improved self-reported well-being, with Satisfaction With Life increasing by 1.886 points (p-value<0.01). Though our study was conducted against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, it offers a broader insight: improving student well-being within a self-selected group is achievable in a relatively short time and with a low budget. The present study serves as a proof-of-concept for similar future efforts.
The power of recovery: Evidence of education gains in the aftermath of a natural disaster
[Working Paper]
with Jimena Pacheco & Juan Ponce
This paper explores the short-term impact of an earthquake which occurred in Ecuador in April 2016 on educational outcomes. The paper implements a difference-in-difference strategy with geo-referenced data to compare educational outcomes for children affected and unaffected by the earthquake. Unexpectedly, the analysis shows that students in earthquake-affected schools scored 0.25-0.30 points (out of 10) higher in the standardized secondary school-leaving exam ‘Ser Bachiller’ as compared to children in schools unaffected by the earthquake. This translates into a 12-percentage point increase in the probability of passing. The results are robust to placebo tests which vary time and place of exposure to the earthquake. The paper demonstrates and suggests that the earthquake became an opportunity as it led to increased resource flows to the affected areas. Specifically, the earthquake was associated with increased educational expenditure per student and improvements in access to educational facilities which in turn translated into increases in test scores. We also explore other factors such as increased teacher, parental and community solidarity and commitment to education generated after the earthquake.
The effects of parental migration on children left behind: meta-analytical evidence on education and child labour
[Working Paper]
with Emily Bergner and Anne Lieke Ebbers
This study presents meta-analytical evidence on the effects of parental migration on children left behind. The existing literature discusses three contradictory channels suggesting opposite impacts on both education and labour activities of left-behind children. To systematically analyse the related empirical finding, we identified 33 papers with 577 estimates on education and child labour that were circulated between 2000 and March 12th, 2024. We complemented these with another 13 papers on educational aspirations that were systematically reviewed. Employing automated tools to increase the objectivity of our structural approach (litsearchr, ASReview), we find that on average the family disruption, i.e., the substitution effect, is bigger than the financial benefits derived from parental migration. However, there is considerable heterogeneity. For the case of China, children left behind show improved educational outcomes and less child labour. Similarly, Chinese studies report increased educational aspirations whereas findings for the sample as a whole are inconsistent.