School bullying contributes to lower pisa achievement among Filipino students : Who gets bullied? : Why does it matter?

The Philippines has one of the highest school bullying rates around the world. While its nature, causes and impacts are well-documented in the international literature, the local evidence remains limited and at times conflicting. In this study, we assess the contribution of bullying exposure on student achievement in an international large-scale student assessment, and infer its potential long-term implications. We find that differences in bullying exposure explains around 0.05 standard deviation of the gap in average student achievement between proficient and non-proficient students, which could potentially cost the Philippines around PhP10-20 billion annually in foregone economic activity. We also document important risk factors of being the "most bullied" around the world, and highlight spatial disparities in bullying risks.