Research

Abstract: This paper studies the effect of prohibiting the wearing of the Islamic veil in schools on educational attainment of Muslim girls. Using a difference-in-differences design, I find that the directive to school principals to ban the veil in French schools in 1994 led to a large decline in high-school completion rates among Muslim women. An analysis of mechanisms suggests that this negative impact of the ban operates through increased discrimination against Muslims and mistrust of the French school system, rather than through changes in parental educational investments. I also show that using an imprecise definition of the treated group as in previous work introduces substantial bias. In the long run, affected cohorts display lower religiosity levels in adulthood, suggesting a gradual assimilation towards the majority culture.

Abstract: Does violence victimization get transmitted across generations? Using Danish register data spanning four decades, we provide the first empirical evidence on the cycle of victimization beyond small-scale surveys. We document that the transmission of assault victimization is nearly as large as that of violence perpetration. Parental income mediates these associations differently by gender: high parental income completely closes the perpetration and victimization gaps for daughters exposed to violence. However, substantial gaps of 74 and 51 percent remain for boys at the top of the income distribution for perpetration and victimization, respectively. Children exposed to violence experience significantly lower levels of absolute income mobility, around 8 to 9 and 4 to 5 rank points for boys and girls, respectively. These gaps close at the top of the parental income distribution. Taken together, our results suggest that even if policies aimed at improving the economic conditions of low-income families are successful, they may not break the cycle of violence, especially for boys.