Research

Work in Progress

The Impact of War-Related Deaths on Voting Behavior: Quasi-Natural Experiment in Armenia

Abstract:  How does exposure to a war outside the immediate conflict area influence pupils' educational performance, and how does this collective impact differs from that of direct family exposure? To address these questions, I link individual-level victim data from the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war with individual school records from periods before and after the conflict. The findings reveal that exposure to war-related casualties at the school level (collective affectedness) increases proficiency in the language associated with the most popular migration direction, thus, prioritizing the "outside safe option" for living. The proficiency in native language and history studies diminishes. Conversely, family-level affectedness amplifies parochialism and group identity, reflected in improved performance in subjects related to culture and homeland. This study contributes to the broader literature on the economics of conflict and education, shedding light on alternative factors influencing education and emphasizing the importance of considering varying levels of vulnerability among students in conflict-affected regions. Furthermore, it demonstrates how war affects schooling trajectories, potentially leading to long-term economic effects even decades later.

War and Civic Engagement: The Impact of War-related Casualties on Voting Decisions 

(with Ella Sargsyan) [data digitization in process]


 Abstract:  Active democratic engagement plays a crucial role in the reconstruction and advancement of economies and societies scarred by conflict.  We study the effect of a localized war on individual civic engagement, specifically measured as voter turnout. To do so we combine a dataset of pre- and post-conflict voter lists from the parliamentary elections in Armenia with the individual-level administrative data on casualties of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 2020. Utilizing unique individual-level voting and casualty data, we employ a difference-in-differences analysis to establish the causal relationship between exposure to war-related death within the household and the voting behavior of the household members. The study further provides nuanced insights into the heterogeneity of the effect based on the different voter and victim characteristics. Our research seeks to contribute to the academic discourse on the relationship between conflicts and civic engagement. This understanding could have implications for post-conflict recovery and governance strategies. 

The evolution of the gender aspiration gap 

(with Christian Ochsner (CERGE-EI) and Gregor Pfeifer(University of Sydney))


 Abstract:  Active democratic engagement plays a crucial role in the reconstruction and advancement of economies and societies scarred by conflict.  We study the effect of a localized war on individual civic engagement, specifically measured as voter turnout. To do so we combine a dataset of pre- and post-conflict voter lists from the parliamentary elections in Armenia with the individual-level administrative data on casualties of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war of 2020. Utilizing unique individual-level voting and casualty data, we employ a difference-in-differences analysis to establish the causal relationship between exposure to war-related death within the household and the voting behavior of the household members. The study further provides nuanced insights into the heterogeneity of the effect based on the different voter and victim characteristics. Our research seeks to contribute to the academic discourse on the relationship between conflicts and civic engagement. This understanding could have implications for post-conflict recovery and governance strategies.