Does work impede child's learning? The case of Senegal

This paper assesses the impact of labor performed during childhood on cognitive achievement of teenagers, measured by tests. Introduction of community fixed effects and use of multiple tests taken at the entry of primary school allows to control for unobserved heterogeneity and mea- surement error in the entry tests. We find no detrimental impact of par- ticipation of children to economic activities on their subsequent learning once controlling for the number of years of education but rather a pos- itive, though small, impact. This could come from increased monetary resources. Working more than 4 hours a week or as an employee though prevents the child to learn as much as the other children.