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Using a nationally representative household survey from Mali with retrospective information
on school supply, we estimate the effect of opening new schools on education and on social capital
formation. We compare the difference in educational attainment between individuals below and above
the age of 9 at a school opening date using a quasi regression discontinuity design. School openings
increase school enrollment; they also increase the participation in village associations and the
involvement in local political life. The effect on political participation is concentrated in the eldest
cohorts of the village with education, aged more than 40; this is not surprising: the eldest occupy
a pivotal role in the social life of African villages. Also, the effect of education is concentrated on
individuals belonging to a chief family of the village, so education seems to change local political
power inside the dominant group of the village.
