Mahounan Yedomiffi

• Job Market Paper: Does Parental Involvement Improve Student Learning: The Role of Parent's Monitoring

My Job market paper presents the outcomes of a randomized controlled trial I conducted in Benin investigating the effects of providing parents with information about their role in their child’s education through weekly phone calls. Encompassing 2,094 8th-grade students in 20 secondary schools, the intervention led to a substantial 4-percentage-point increase in grade completion. This stems from a statistically significant 0.11 standard deviation increase in the year-end GPA, driven by STEM subjects. The intervention benefits weaker students, elevating their likelihood of advancing by 10 percentage points. Educational improvements are due to improved parental knowledge about their child’s performance, increased parental involvement at school and home, and reductions in household child chores. For sub-Saharan Africa, these results offer a promising and cost-effective strategy to improve educational outcomes.

• COVID-19 Learning Losses, Parental Investments, and Recovery: Evidence from Low-Cost Private Schools in Nigeria (Joint with Adeniran, A., Okoye, D., and Wantchekon, L.) RISE Working Paper Series. 22/120. https://doi.org/10.35489/BSG-RISEWP_2022/120

In this paper, we investigate the extent of COVID-19 learning losses and recovery in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, and provide some evidence that a full recovery is possible. Using data from a random sample of schools, we find significant learning losses of about .6 standard deviations in English and Math. However, a program designed to slow down the curriculum and cover what was missed during school closures led to a rebound within 2 months and a recovery of all learning losses. Students who were a part of the program do not lag behind one year later and remain in school.

• Effect of the 2011 Libyan Crisis on Insecurity in the Sahel Region (Joint with Togbedji Gansey)

Using detailed data on terrorist activities, we investigate how the fall of the Libyan regime in 2011 affected the Sahel region. Results show a significant increase in attacks, deaths, and injuries associated with terrorist activities in the following years after 2011.