We provide evidence that short-term shocks to student cognitive performance have long-lasting consequences for human capital devel-opment. We use administrative data from Mexico City to show that students’ exposure to violent crime in the week immediately prior to a high-stakes exam lowers females’ test scores by 11% of a standard de-viation. As a result, 19% of female students exposed to violent crime are subsequently assigned to less preferred, lower-quality high schools. We find no such effect for males and show that crime-induced concentration problems are an underlying mechanism behind the detri-mental effects on females’ test scores.
CITATION STYLE
Chang, E., & Padilla-Romo, M. (2023). When Crime Comes to the Neighborhood: Short-Term Shocks to Student Cognition and Secondary Consequences. Journal of Labor Economics, 41(4), 997–1039. https://doi.org/10.1086/721656
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