Assessing the Effects of an Education Policy on Women's Wellbeing : Evidence from Benin
Rozenn Hotte  1@  , Sarah Deschênes  2, *@  
1 : Paris School of Economics
PARIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS, Paris School of Economics
2 : Paris School of Economics - INED
Ecole d'Économie de Paris
* : Corresponding author

In this paper, we examine the impact of an education policy on women's wellbeing in Benin. Taking advantage of the increase in school constructions in the 1990s in this country, we first assess the causal impact of this program on primary school attendance and on child marriage, using a regression kink design (RKD). Then, we study the causal impact of education on tolerance of domestic violence. We find that the program decreases the probability to be married before 15 years old, but we do not find any impact on tolerance of violence. Drawing on a change in trend of primary enrollment in other countries in West Africa, we replicate the analysis to Cˆote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The probability to be married before 15 years old decreases for almost every countries studied. Evidence concerning the probability to tolerate domestic violence is more mixed.


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