The Long-Term Impact of U.S. Bombing on Education, Earning, Health, Fertility and Marriage in Cambodia

Abstract

We combined household surveys and the intensity of bombing to investigate the the long-term impact of U.S. bombing during the 1969-1973 period on education, earnings, health, fertility and marriage in Cambodia. The novelty of this paper consists of the use of the quantity of bombs dropped in each geographic district, which allows the estimation of the effects of the intensity of bombing. Taking into account this intensive margin adds significant insights to using a binary exposure to bombing that has been reported in previous research. We find that one standard deviation increase in the intensity of bombing during 1969-1973 reduced years of schooling by about 0.11-0.23. The effects for men are larger than those for women. Fertility (total births) increased by 0.20 and age at first marriage for girls declined by 0.32 year. The reduction in years of education completed do not seem to have affected earnings, however. Similarly, we did not detect any significant effect on health.