Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper 030

THE LOCAL SOCIOECONOMIC EFFECTS OF GOLD
MINING:
EVIDENCE FROM GHANA

Punam Chuhan-Pole
Andrew Dabalen
Andreas Kotsadam
Aly Sanoh
Anja Tolonen

April 2015
Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper 030

ABSTRACT
Ghana is experiencing its third gold rush, and this paper sheds light on the socioeconomic impacts of this rapid
expansion in industrial production. The paper uses a rich data set consisting of geocoded household data
combined with detailed information on gold mining activities, and conducts two types of difference-in-
differences estimations that provide complementary evidence. The first is a local-level analysis that identifies
an economic footprint area very close to a mine; the second is a district-level analysis that captures the fiscal
channel. The results indicate that men are more likely to benefit from direct employment as miners and that
women are more likely to gain from indirect employment opportunities in services, although these results are
imprecisely measured. Long-established households gain access to infrastructure, such as electricity and radios.
Migrants living close to mines are less likely to have access to electricity and the incidence of diarrheal diseases
is higher among migrant children. Overall, however, infant mortality rates decrease significantly in mining
communities.

This paper is a product of the Poverty and Equity Global Practice Group. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to
provide open access to its research and contribute to development policy discussions around the world. The authors may be
contacted at andreas.kotsadam@econ.uio.no, anja.tolonen@economics.gu.se, and pchuhan@worldbank.org.

The Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of
ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully
polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions
expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank
or the governments they represent.

‒ Poverty & Equity Global Practice Knowledge Management & Learning Team

This paper is co-published with the World Bank Policy Research Working Papers.
The Local Socioeconomic Effects of Gold Mining:
Evidence from Ghana

Punam Chuhan-Pole,* Andrew Dabalen,* Andreas Kotsadam,**
Aly Sanoh,* and Anja Tolonen***

JEL Classification: J16, J21, O13, O15, O18

*
The World Bank Group.
**
Department of Economics, University of Oslo; andreas.kotsadam@econ.uio.no.
***
Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg; anja.tolonen@economics.gu.se.

The authors would like to thank Kathleen Beegle and Jamele Rigolini for their insightful comments, and the
participants at the May 2014 workshop at the World Bank Office of the Chief Economist of the Africa region for
their input. The authors would also like to thank Fernando Aragón and Juan Pablo Rud for sharing their data.
The paper was written as part of the World Bank project, Socioeconomic Impact of Mining on Local
Communities in Africa (P148422).
1 Introduction

The mining sector in Africa is growing rapidly and is the main recipient of foreign direct
investment (World Bank 2011). The welfare effects of this sector are not well understood,
although a literature has recently developed around this question. The main contribution of this
paper is to shed light on the welfare effects of gold mining in a detailed, in-depth country study
of Ghana, a country with a long tradition of gold mining and a recent, large expansion in capital-
intensive and industrial-scale production.

A second contribution of this paper is to show the importance of decomposing the effects with
respect to distance from the mines, and by migration status. Given the spatial heterogeneity of
the results, we explore the effects in an individual-level, difference-in-differences analysis by
using spatial lag models to allow for nonlinear effects with distance from mine, and in a district-
level analysis, where we also allow for spillovers across districts. We use two complementary
geocoded household data sets to analyze outcomes in Ghana: the Demographic and Health
Survey (DHS) and the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS), which provide information on
a wide range of welfare outcomes.

The paper contributes to the growing literature on the local effects of mining. Much of the
academic interest in natural resources is focused on country-wide effects, and this research
discusses whether the discovery of natural resources is a blessing or a curse to the national
economy. Natural resource dependence at the national level has been linked to worsening
economic and political outcomes, such as weaker institutions, and more corruption and conflict
(see Frankel 2010 and van der Ploeg 2011 for an overview). While all these effects can have
household-level implications, few analyses, thus far, have analyzed the geographic dispersion
of such impacts. A recent literature on the local and subnational effects of natural resources
contributes to the understanding of such effects (Aragón and Rud 2013a, 2013b; Caselli and
Michaels 2013; Corno and de Walque 2012; Kotsadam and Tolonen 2014; Loyaza, Mier y
Teran, and Rigolini 2013; Michaels 2011; Tolonen 2014; von der Goltz and Barnwal 2014;
Wilson 2012; Fafchamps et al. 2015). A growing number of papers explore the mining industry,
in particular (see Aragón, Chuhan-Pole, and Land 2015 for an overview).

Aragón and Rud (2013a) provided the seminal work exploring the economic effects of one very
large mine in Peru. They find that the expansion of the mine had poverty-reducing effects, but
only in conjunction with policies for local procurement. Moreover, some of the mining-related
papers have focused on mining in an African context, exploring a range of outcomes, including

2
HIV-transmission and sexual risk taking (Corno and de Walque 2012; Wilson 2012), women’s
empowerment and child health (Tolonen 2014), and labor market outcomes (Kotsadam and
Tolonen 2014).

Kotsadam and Tolonen (2014) use DHS data from Africa, and find that mine openings cause
women to shift from agriculture to service production and that women become more likely to
work for cash and year-round as opposed to seasonally. Continuing this analysis, Tolonen
(2014) explores the links between mining and female empowerment in eight gold-producing
countries in East and West Africa, including Ghana. Women in gold mining communities have
more diversified labor markets opportunities, better access to health care, and are less likely to
accept domestic violence. In addition, child mortality decreases in mining communities,
especially for girls. In a study that focuses exclusively on Ghana, Aragón and Rud (2013b)
explore the link between pollution from mining and agricultural productivity. The results point
toward decreasing agricultural productivity because of environmental pollution and soil
degradation.

We explore the effects of mining activity on poverty, inequality, employment, access to
infrastructure (electricity, water, and sanitary facilities), and children’s health outcomes in
communities and districts with gold mining. Using the DHS and GLSS, we combine these data
sets with production data for 17 large-scale mines in Ghana. We find that a new large-scale
gold mine changes economic outcomes, such as access to employment and cash earnings.
Furthermore, the evidence points toward increased wage rates in mining communities, and an
increase in household expenditure on housing and energy.

An important welfare indicator in developing countries is infant mortality, and we note a large
and significant decrease in mortality rates among young children, at both the local and district
levels.1 We hypothesize that increased access to prenatal care is one of the mechanisms behind
the increased survival rate. Among households that always lived in the area, the mine leads to
more access to electricity, and to less incidence of diarrhea in children. However, among the
migrant2 population, the share of households that have access to electricity decreases, and

1
In the 2010 Ghana population census average district size is 112,000
2
The DHS question used is "How long have you been living continuously in (PLACE OF RESIDENCE)?" Answers
are coded as “always” or “number of years”. A non-migrant is defined as a person who responded “always” and
migrant as a person who responded with “number of years”.

3
children are more likely to have suffered from diarrhea. This analysis shows that there might
be a need for specific policies to increase welfare among the migrant population.

Overall, the results are more robustly estimated at the district level than at the individual level,
and we find no indications of positive spillover effects across districts. This is in line with a
public spending hypothesis, where mining districts benefit more than adjacent non-mining
districts through the fiscal revenue channel, since 10 percent of mining royalties are
redistributed to mining districts. We read the local effects as being additional to the district-
level effects; that is, the mine affects the mining district through the fiscal channel, and local
mining communities through employment generation.

2 Gold mining in Ghana

Ghana has a long tradition of gold mining and has produced a substantial portion of the world’s
gold for over 1,000 years (see Hilson [2002] for an extensive overview of gold production in
Ghana). During colonial British rule, the country was named the Gold Coast Colony, and gold
production was booming. The first gold rush occurred between 1892 and 1901, and the second
after World War I. Gold production decreased at the dawn of independence in 1957, and
remained low until the 1980s. Over the last 20 years, Ghana has been experiencing its third gold
rush. During this period, annual gold production has increased by 700 percent, as shown in
Figure 1. It is the expansion that has happened during this recent gold rush that is used in this
analysis to understand the socioeconomic effects of mining.

Figure 1 Ghana’s annual gold production and world price of gold

4
Ghana is the second-largest gold producer in Africa after South Africa, with gold production
averaging 77 tons per year (Gajigo, Mutambatsere, and Mdiaya 2012). In 2011, Ghana’s
mineral sector accounted for about 14 percent of total tax revenues and 5.5 percent of the gross
domestic product (GDP) (Bermúdez-Lugo 2011), as well as 44 percent of Ghanian exports
(Gajigo, Mutambatsere, and Mdiaya 2012). This makes the gold mining industry one of the
country’s most important industries, and an essential industry to study.

Similar to gold mining in other African countries (see Gajigo, Mutambatsere, and Mdiaya
[2012] for an overview), the sector is highly capital intensive, and direct employment
generation is, relative to its economic importance, limited. In 2010, it was estimated that about
20,000 Ghanaian nationals—0.08 percent of the population—were employed in large-scale
mining (Bermudez-Lugo 2010), despite accounting for 5.5 percent of GDP. Nonetheless, the
spillovers to other sectors of the economy may be substantial, because nonnationals also work
in the mines and wages are relatively high. Aryee (2001) estimates that, between 1986 and
1998, large-scale mining injected over US$300 million into the national economy from salaries
alone.

Beyond direct and indirect employment effects, the mining industry is connected to the wider
economy via taxes and royalties. Ghana has been highlighted as a good example of how
mineral-rich countries can distribute mining wealth, since a proportion of the rents are
distributed to the local communities (Standing and Hilson 2013). The mining royalty paid by
mining companies in Ghana was 3 percent until 2010, which was the average rate for gold
production in Africa (Gajigo, Mutambatsere, and Mdiaya 2012), but increased to 5 percent in
2010 (Standing and Hilson 2013). Of this money, 80 percent goes to the general government
budget, 10 percent goes to the administration of mining oversight, and 10 percent supports
district administration (Garvin et al. 2009). Between 1993 and 1998, about US$17 million was
distributed to local mining communities (Aryee 2001). While considered a model of best
practice, there is still a worry that the beneficial effects of the district distribution are
undermined by elite capture and corruption at the district level (Standing and Hilson 2013). For
our analysis, the scheme implies that it may be necessary to conduct a district-level analysis in
addition to the more local-level analyses.

The sector is today dominated by 12 currently active mines, and there are an additional five
suspended mines that have been in production in recent decades. Table 1 presents a full list of
the mines, the year they opened, and their status as of December 2012. Company name and

5
country are for the main shareowner in the mine. Most of these 17 mines have foreign
ownership, such as Australian, Canadian, or South African, sometimes in partnership with
Ghanaian firms or the Ghanaian state. Most are open-pit mines, although a few consist of a
combination of open-pit and underground operations.

Table 1 Gold Mines in Ghana

Name Opening Closing year Company Country
year
Ahafo 2006 active Newmont Mining Corp. USA
Bibiani 1998 active Noble Mineral Resources Australia
Bogoso Prestea 1990 active Golden Star Resources USA
Chirano 2005 active Kinross Gold Canada
Damang 1997 active Gold Fields Ghana Ltd. South Africa
Edikan (Ayanfuri) 1994 active Perseus Mining Australia
Iduapriem 1992 active AngloGold Ashanti South Africa
Jeni (Bonte) 1998 2003 Akrokeri-Ashanti Canada
Konongo 1990 active LionGold Corp. Singapore
Kwabeng 1990 1993 Akrokeri-Ashanti Canada
Nzema 2011 active Endeavour Canada
Obotan 1997 2001 PMI Gold Canada
Obuasi 1990 active AngloGold Ashanti South Africa
Prestea Sankofa 1990 2001 Anglogold Ashanti South Africa
Tarkwa 1990 active Gold Fields Ghana Ltd. South Africa
Teberebie 1990 2005 Anglogold Ashanti South Africa
Wassa 1999 active Golden Star Resources USA
Source: InterraRMG 2013.
Note: Active is production status as of December 2012, the last available data point.

Alongside the large-scale, capital-intensive mining industry in Ghana, there is an artisanal and
small-scale mining sector (ASM). ASM activities were legalized in 1984, when the state
loosened its monopoly on gold mining. In Ghana, as in many other African countries, the sector
is an important employer (ILO 1999). It is estimated that around 1 million people in Ghana
support themselves with revenues from ASM activities.

The sector is associated with several hazardous labor conditions, however. This includes child
labor, mercury exposure, and risk of mine collapse (Hilson 2009). The ASM and the large-scale
mining sector sometimes thrive side by side, but sometimes competing interests lead to conflict
between the two sectors, such as around Prestea, where domestic galamsey miners (informal
small-scale miners) have been in conflict with the multinational concession owner (Hilson and
Yakoleva 2007).

In this analysis, we focus solely on large-scale mining. We understand, however, that small-
and large-scale operations may be geographically correlated. Assuming that the start of a large-
6
scale mine does not affect the likelihood or viability of artisanal and small-scale mining, it is
not a threat to our identifying assumptions. However, should ASM respond to large-scale
activities, either by increased activity or decreased activity in the close geographic area, we will
end up estimating the impact of these sectors jointly. In a later stage, should the opportunity
arise, we encourage researchers to try to disentangle the effects of small-scale and large-scale
mining.

3 Data

To conduct this analysis, we combine different data sources using spatial analysis. The main
mining data are a data set from InterraRMG covering all large-scale mines in Ghana, explained
in more detail in section 3.1. This data set is linked to survey data from the DHS and GLSS,
using spatial information. Geographical coordinates of enumeration areas in GLSS are from
Ghana Statistical Services (GSS).3 Point coordinates (global positioning system [GPS]) for the
surveyed DHS clusters4 allow us to match all individuals to one or several mineral mines. We
do this in two ways.

First, we calculate distance spans from an exact mine location given by its GPS coordinates,
and match surveyed individuals to mines. These are concentric circles with radiuses of 10, 20,
and 30 kilometers (km), and so on, up to 100 km and beyond. In the baseline analysis where
we use a cutoff distance of 20 km, we assume there is little economic footprint beyond that
distance. Of course, any such distance is arbitrarily chosen, which is why we try different
specifications to explore the spatial heterogeneity by varying this distance (using 10 km, 20 km,
through 50 km) as well as a spatial lag structure (using 0 to 10 km, 10 to 20 km, through 40 to
50 km distance bins).5

Second, we collapse the DHS mining data at the district level.6 The number of districts has
changed over time in Ghana, because districts with high population growth have been split into
smaller districts. To avoid endogeneity concerns, we use the baseline number of districts, which
is 137, which existed at the start of our analysis period. Eleven of these districts have industrial

3
The data was shared by Aragón and Rud (2013b)
4
Both the DHS and GLSS enumeration area coordinates have a 1-5 km offset. The DHS clusters have up to
10km displacement in 1% of the cases.
5
The distances are radii from mine center point, and form concentric circles around the mine.
6
The DHS and the GLSS data are representative at the regional level, and not at the district level. Since the
regional level is too aggregated, we do the analysis at the district level, but note that the sample may not be
representative.

7
mining. Because some mines are close to district boundaries, we additionally test whether there
is an effect in neighboring districts.

3.1 Resource data

The Raw Materials Data are from InterraRMG (2013). The data set contains information on
past or current industrial mines. All mines have information on annual production volumes,
ownership structure, and GPS coordinates on location. We complete this data with exact
geographic location data from MineAtlas (2013), where satellite imagery shows the actual mine
boundaries, which allows us to identify and update the center point of each mine. The
production data and ownership information are double-checked against the companies’ annual
reports.

For Ghana, this exercise results in 17 industrial mines tracked over time. We have annual
production levels from 1990 until 2012. As mentioned, Table 1 shows the mining companies
active in Ghana during recent decades, with opening and closing years (although some were
closed in between, which is not presented in the table). Figure 2 shows the geographic
distribution of these mines.

Figure 2 Gold mines and DHS clusters in Ghana

Panel A Gold mines and 20 km buffer zones Panel B Gold mines, DHS clusters, and 100 km buffer zones

Note: Panel A shows the location of the gold mines that were active during the study period. Around each circle,
a 20-km radius is marked. These 40-km-wide areas are the baseline treatment areas in the analysis. Panel B shows
the 100-km treatment areas and the distribution of the DHS clusters. Road data is an alternative way of defining
distance from mines, but time series data on roads is not available.

8
3.2 Household data

We use microdata from the DHS, obtained from standardized surveys across years and
countries. We combine the respondents from all four DHS standard surveys in Ghana for which
there are geographic identifiers. The total data set includes 19,705 women (of which 12,392
live within 100 km of a mine) aged 15–49 from 137 districts. They were surveyed in 1993,
1998, 2003, and 2008,7 and live in 1,623 survey clusters. Since the DHS surveys focus on
women, the surveys of women will be the main source of data. However, we also use the
surveys of men, which give us data from the same four survey years, but with a total number of
12,294 individuals, of which 7,491 men live within 100 km of a mine. In addition, the DHS
data collect records of all children born within the five years prior to the surveying. Of the
12,174 children born to the surveyed women within the last five years, 6,888 were born to
women currently residing within 100 km of a mine. See Appendix 1 for definition of outcome
variables.

We complement the analysis with household data from the GLSS collected during three years—
1998–99, 2004–05, and 2012–13. These data are a good complement to the DHS data, because
they have a stronger focus on all households’ members, rather than focusing only on women
and young children. In addition, they provide more detailed information on labor market
participation, such as exact profession (where, for example, being a miner is a possible
outcome), hours worked, and a wage indicator. The data estimate household expenditure and
household income. Wages, income, and expenditure can, however, be difficult to measure in
economies where nonmonetary compensation for labor and subsistence farming are common
practices.

4 Empirical Strategies

4.1 Individual-level difference-in-differences

Time-varying data on production and repeated survey data allow us to use a difference-in-
differences approach.8 However, due to the spatial nature of our data and the fact that some

7
The first mines were opened in 1990, prior to the first household survey. Ten mines were opened after the first
DHS in 1993. There is less variation in the data set using GLSS where the first households were surveyed in
1998, i.e. 8 years after the first mine opened. However, the DHS data include births recorded from 1987, which
is prior to all mine openings.
8
We have not done a synthetic control approach because of limited ability to explore pretreatment trends.

9
mines are spatially clustered, we use a strategy developed by Tolonen (2014). We limit the data
to include households within 100 km of a mine location and estimate the following:

Yivt = β0 + β1 ∙ activet + β2 ∙ mine + β3 ∙ activet * mine + αd + gt + λXi + εivt, (1)

where the outcome of an individual i in cluster v, and for year t is regressed on district and year
fixed effects, a dummy for whether the respondent lives within 20 km of a mine (deposit), a
dummy for whether the mine is active at the time of the survey (active), an interaction term
between active mines and living close to a mine (activet * mine), and a vector of individual-
level control variables. Deposit is a known gold resource in the ground, regardless of whether
it is being extracted or not. In all regressions, we control for living in an urban area, years of
education, and age. By including district fixed effects, we control for various institutional and
cultural factors at the district level that are stable over time. Including district fixed effects also
ensures that we are not only capturing effects from transfers or the fiscal system as we compare
individuals within the same districts. With this method we capture the geographic spillover
effects in the vicinity of the mine. All standard errors are clustered at the DHS cluster level.

The sample is restricted to individuals living within 100 km of a deposit location, so many parts
of Northern Ghana where there are few mines are not included in the analysis. The sample
restriction is created by using the time-stable continuous distance measure that we calculate
from each mine location to each DHS cluster. This is also the distance measure that we use to
create the “deposit” dummy, which captures whether the cluster lies within 20 km of a known
gold deposit. Note that we only consider deposits that have been in production at some point
until December 2012.

All households are thus within 100 km of one, or several, gold deposits. To ascertain whether
there is any gold production in these mines, we construct an indicator variable active, which
takes a value of 1 if there is at least one mine within 100 km that was extracting gold in the year
the household was surveyed. While the deposit dummy captures some of the special
characteristics of mining areas (for example, whether mines tend to open in less urban areas),
the active dummy captures long-range spillovers of mining.

The treatment effect that we are mostly interested in is captured with the active*mine
coefficient. The coefficient for β3 tells us what the effect of being close to an actively producing
mine is. Since the inclusion of the three dummies (active, deposit, and active*deposit) captures

10
the difference between close and far, and before and after mine opening, we have created a
difference-in-differences estimator.

Panel B of figure 2 shows this strategy in a map, where the small blue circles show the treatment
areas, and the 100-km-radius green circles show the geographic areas that constitute the control
group. As is common in difference-in-differences analysis, the estimation relies on treatment
and control groups being on similar trajectories before mine opening. This assumption is
discussed and we investigate the balance of treatment and control areas. In particular, we test
for differences in outcomes in areas where mining has not started and compare this to areas
farther away.

In a second method, we use a spatial lag model. Such a model allows for nonlinear effects with
distance. We divide the plane into 10-km distance bins and estimate the model with a full set
of distance bin dummies.

������������������������ = ������0 + ∑ ������������ ������������������������ + ∑ ������������ ������������������������������������������ ∙ ������������������������ + ∝������ + ������������ + ������������������ + ������������������������ (2)
������ ������

for d ∈ {0–10, 10–20, …, 80–90}.

This method, in addition to varying the cutoff point in the baseline estimation strategy, allows
us to identify in more detail the spatial structure of the data. Using this method, we can support
our choice of baseline cutoff distance.

4.2 District-level analysis

While the estimation strategy in (1) captures some spillovers beyond the 20 km, and strategy
(2) maps the economic footprint of the mine up to 100 km, it does not capture district-level
treatment. District level is an additional interesting level of analysis, since it captures effects
through the fiscal channel, and has previously been employed in, for example, Loyaza, Mier y
Teran, and Rigolini (2013) to measure income inequality across mining districts in Peru. With
Ghana’s tax-sharing rules, district tax income and royalties increase with expansion in gold
extraction (for more information, see section 2). In the district-level analysis, we first use mine
openings as the independent variable, and then we use a richer specification with production
levels. Given the spatial location of mines near district borders, we additionally analyze spatial
spillovers from mining districts to neighboring districts.

11
4.2.1 Difference-in-differences at the district level

The first approach is similar to the local-level approach, only an individual is defined as being
treated by a mine opening if she or he lives in a district with at least one active mine. In total,
our mines are located in 11 mining districts (see figure 3). For districts with several mines, we
define the whole district as active whenever at least one mine is active. Later, we will also
consider district total annual production (tons of gold extracted), and thereby the effect of the
intensity of production is recognized.

Figure 3 District-level analysis in Ghana

Note: This figure shows the mine locations and the district in which the mines are located.

The baseline specification is shown in the following equation:

������������������������ = ������1 ������������������������������������_������������������������������������������������������������ + ∝������ + ������������ + ������������������������ + ������������������������ (3)

The outcome for individual i in district d in time period t is regressed on district and year fixed
effects, an indicator for whether the individual lived in an active mine district at the time of the
interview, and time varying individual-level factors. Even though the treatment is defined at the
district level, we use individual-level data to be able to control for individual- level factors and

12
explore heterogeneity at the individual level. The standard errors are, however, clustered at the
district level to take into account the interdependence induced by the higher-level treatment.
Since the treatment variable is at the same level as our district fixed effects, the β1 coefficients
are directly interpretable as difference-in-differences estimates. That is, they capture the
difference between mining districts and nonmining districts before and after mining starts.

In estimating the district-level effects of mine openings on child outcomes, we control for birth-
year fixed effects instead of survey-year fixed effects. In investigating the effects on birth
outcomes and infant mortality, we further classify a child as treated if he or she is born in a
district with active mining (in contrast to whether the mine is active when the mother was
interviewed). We also include controls for the age of the child in the survey year in the child
and birth outcome regressions (but, naturally, not in the infant mortality regressions).

4.2.2 Using production levels

We continue by exploring the effects of mining intensity as proxied by district-level production
volumes. The estimation will be similar to equation (2), but we replace the indicator variable
for being an active mining district with annual gold production in the district:

������������������������ = ������1 ������������������������_������������������������������������������������������������������������ + ∝������ + ������������ + ������������������������ + ������������������������ (4)

The measure of gold production is in 10 tons of gold produced, and ������������������������_������������������������������������������������������������������������ is
either gold_year_district, which equals the total production of all mines in a district in the
different survey years, or gold_period_district, which equals total production for the years
before the survey. For the 1993 survey, the period is 1990–93, for 1998 it is 1994–98, and so
on.

4.2.3 Investigating spillovers

The districts are small, and some mines are located in border regions. We thus expect there to
be spillovers across district borders. For example, a mine can change demand for labor,
agricultural produce, and services across the district border, and induce reallocation of work
across districts. We explore neighbor spillovers by estimating the following equation:

������������������������ = ������1 ������������������������_������������������������������������ + ������2 ������������������������ℎ������������������_������������������������_������������������������������������ + ∝������ + ������������ + ������������������������ + ������������������������ (5)

13
That is, we add gold production for the mining districts to their neighbors, and β2 measures the
effects of gold production in these districts, as well. That is, if β2 is statistically and
economically significant, it would imply that increased production in a neighboring district has
spillover effects on the district in question.

5 Results

In this section, we present results using the two difference-in-differences strategies. Since the
individual analysis contains district fixed effects, the two strategies are complementary. While
the district-level analysis informs us about differences across and within districts over time, the
local-level analysis gives us the additional impact at the very local level. This means that any
differences in effects across district and local analysis should not be interpreted as
inconsistencies, but rather as differential and additional impacts.

5.1 Individual-level difference-in-differences strategy

In a difference-in-differences setting, it is important that the sample is balanced, assuming that
the treatment and control groups are on similar trajectories. Table 2 shows the summary
statistics for the women’s and men’s surveys (together) across four different groups, close and
far away, and before and during the mine’s production phase. We see that the sample looks
quite balanced across the pretreatment groups. However, communities that are close to mines
are less urban (23 percent before the mine began operating and 33 percent after, compared to
62 percent and 49 percent urban farther away), and before the mines began operating, such
communities had a larger share of agricultural workers (41 percent compared to 22 to 27 percent
farther away), and less service and sales employment (19 percent compared to 25 to 27 percent
farther away). With an open mine, the agricultural sector is smaller and the work participation
rate in close communities decreases to 32 percent, but the service sector expands to 25 percent
of the workforce.

14
Table 2 Summary statistics for women’s surveys

(1) (2) (3) (4)
far from a mine close to a mine
before during before during
woman’s characteristics
age 30.21 29.75 30.15 30.01
total children 2.11 2.47 2.78 2.57
wealth 3.85 3.36 3.01 3.26
nonmigrant 0.32 0.34 0.36 0.31
Urban 0.62 0.49 0.23 0.33

woman’s occupation
not working 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.21
service & sales 0.29 0.27 0.19 0.25
professional 0.10 0.07 0.06 0.07
agriculture 0.22 0.27 0.41 0.32
manual labor 0.16 0.15 0.12 0.15
earning cash 0.92 0.90 0.88 0.90
works all year 0.87 0.87 0.88 0.88

woman’s education
3 years education 0.83 0.79 0.78 0.82
no education 0.14 0.16 0.17 0.13

infant mortality
first 12 months 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.06

child health
diarrhea 0.17 0.17 0.13 0.17
cough 0.24 0.22 0.22 0.18
fever 0.20 0.21 0.24 0.20

child anthropometrics
ht/age (st dev.) -94.43 -104.88 -127.04 -115.76
wt/age (st dev.) -90.80 -100.16 -114.28 -103.48
wh/ht (st dev.) -40.29 -45.24 -47.816 -40.52

Sample size (woman) 2351 4140 393 484
Sample size (child at birth) 3709 2204 661 314
Note: Column (1) is a sample at 20 to 100 km from a nonactive mine.
Column (2) is a sample at 20 to 100 km from an active mine.
Column (3) is a sample within 20 km of a nonactive mine.
Column (4) is a sample within 20 of an active mine.
Infant mortality considers mine active status in birth year.
ht/age = height-to-age; wt/age = weight-to-age; wh/ht = weight to height; st. dev. = standard deviation.

15
Table 2 also shows selected child health outcomes as summary statistics across the four
treatment groups. We note that, once again, the sample looks quite balanced in the first three
columns, although children seem to be worse off in communities close to mines that have not
started producing, evidenced by the fact that infant mortality is 8 percent compared to 7 percent
farther away, and 6 percent in communities with active mines. The anthropometrics height-for-
age (stunting or chronic malnutrition), weight-for-age (wasting or acute malnutrition), and
weight-for-height (underweight) show that the children living in mining communities before
the mine started operating have the lowest scores of all four groups. The outcomes seem to
improve with mining, although not enough to offset the initial adverse situation.

To test for exogeneity, we run regressions using baseline individual-level data to explore
changes in observable characteristics among women (the main part of the sample). Table 3
shows that there are no significant effects of the mine opening on the age structure, migration
history, marital status, fertility, or education. If anything, it seems that women in active mining
communities are marginally older, more likely to never have moved, and more likely to be or
have been in a cohabiting relationship or married. Given the women’s slightly higher age, it is
not surprising to find that they have higher fertility and lower schooling (assuming that
schooling has increased over time in Ghana). All these estimates are, however, insignificant.

Table 3 Observable characteristics in the DHS individual data

non- ever currently ever total any schooling
age migrant married cohabiting divorced fertility woman partner
active*mine 0.263 0.028 0.025 0.018 -0.003 0.030 -0.036 -0.003
(0.510) (0.042) (0.027) (0.029) (0.017) (0.115) (0.031) (0.030)
Note: Robust standard errors clustered at the DHS cluster level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and
district fixed effects, urban dummy, age (not column 1), and years of education (not columns 6 and 7). Active is
active status of mine in the survey year. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1.

5.1.1 Occupation
Using the difference-in-differences approach (equation 1), we estimate results on occupation,
child health, and inequality. First, panel A of table 4 shows that women in active mining
communities (active*mine) are more likely to work in service and sales and less in agriculture
or as professionals (although the estimates are not significant, except for professional). Women
are more likely to earn cash for work, and the likelihood increases by 5.4 percentage points,
which is equal to a 6 percent increase. For men (panel B of table 4), the estimates point toward
an increase in agriculture, services, and professional, but a decreased likelihood of working in

16
manual labor. For all interviewed women with a partner, we have additional results. Results for
men in panel B are largely insignificant.

Table 4 OLS estimates women’s and men’s occupation in the DHS individual-level analysis

Occupation
agri- service profess- manual not earns works
culture sales ional Labor working cash all year
PANEL A: Women
active*mine -0.025 0.024 -0.017* 0.012 0.006 0.054** -0.013
(0.039) (0.031) (0.009) (0.021) (0.023) (0.026) (0.033)
mine -0.025 0.056* -0.001 -0.012 -0.018 -0.069*** -0.012
(0.031) (0.029) (0.008) (0.018) (0.020) (0.022) (0.024)
active 0.014 -0.000 -0.006 0.009 -0.016 -0.037** -0.007
(0.015) (0.016) (0.006) (0.011) (0.012) (0.015) (0.016)

Observations 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 9,262 7,085
R-squared 0.350 0.103 0.124 0.024 0.234 0.095 0.042
Mean of dep var. 0.237 0.358 0.045 0.117 0.739 0.891 0.877

PANEL B: Men
active*mine 0.050 0.020 0.027 -0.069* 0.006 -0.013 -0.015
(0.051) (0.020) (0.026) (0.036) (0.023) (0.028) (0.051)
Mine -0.060 0.002 0.000 0.041 -0.018 -0.009 0.066*
(0.042) (0.016) (0.020) (0.030) (0.020) (0.028) (0.039)
Active 0.000 0.002 -0.001 -0.029 -0.016 -0.107*** -0.025
(0.021) (0.014) (0.015) (0.020) (0.012) (0.039) (0.028)

Observations 7,157 7,157 7,157 7,157 7,157 4,374 2,794
R-squared 0.290 0.415 0.084 0.183 0.076 0.107 0.104
Mean of dep var. 0.328 0.111 0.137 0.214 0.209 0.928 0.841

Note: Robust standard errors clustered at the DHS cluster level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and
district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years of education. Active is active status of mine in the survey year.
*** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. Results for women’s partners also available upon request. OLS = ordinary least
squares.

With so many variables tested, such evidence should not be given too much weight. The number
of sampled men in the treatment category is quite small (484 men live close to active mines),
which is why a bigger sample would provide more reliable results.9

Thus far we have used a cutoff distance of 20 km. Panel A of figure 4 shows that the largest
treatment effect for services for women is found within 10 km of a mine, with an 8 percentage

9
Results for sampled women’s partners are similar.

17
point increase in the probability that a woman works in the service sector. This is equivalent to
a 22 percent increase in service sector participation. However, this effect is only statistically
significant at the 10 percent level, possibly due to the small sample size within that distance.
Using distance bins larger than 30 km, we estimate zero or mildly positive treatment on the
probability of service sector employment, but the effects are no longer statistically significant.
Panel B of figure 4 shows the results for cash-earning opportunities, and similarly, we estimate
decreasing treatment effects with distance.

Figure 4 Varying the cutoff distance: Service sector employment, cash earnings, and infant
mortality

Panel A Service and sales Panel B Cash earnings Panel C Infant mortality

Note: Figure 4 shows the main treatment coefficients using the baseline estimation strategy (with DHS individual-
level data; see table 4 for more information), but with different distance cutoffs (10 km, 20 km, 30 km, 40 km, and
50 km). *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1.

5.1.2 Child health

We explore effects on child health, such as size at birth, infant mortality, anthropometrics, and
incidence of cough, diarrhea, and fever. Panel A of table 5 shows that infants in active mine
communities are less likely to be born large, and that the mother had insignificantly fewer
prenatal visits. However, infant mortality decreases by 4 percentage points. Splitting the sample
by gender, we note that this decrease is only statistically significant for boys.

18
Table 5 OLS estimates of birth outcomes, infant survival, and child health in the DHS individual-
level analysis

PANEL A size at birth infant mortality (<12months) antenatal visits
small average large all boys girls # visits at least 1
active*mine 0.022 0.053 -0.075* -0.041* -0.066** -0.020 -0.151 -0.007
(0.028) (0.041) (0.041) (0.022) (0.030) (0.035) (0.331) (0.028)
Mine -0.010 0.071** -0.061** 0.004 0.008 0.001 0.153 0.000
(0.019) (0.028) (0.030) (0.015) (0.020) (0.024) (0.241) (0.019)
Active -0.010 0.054** -0.044 0.002 0.014 -0.012 0.012 0.002
(0.016) (0.026) (0.027) (0.014) (0.022) (0.018) (0.209) (0.012)

Observations 6,771 6,771 6,771 5,356 2,718 2,638 5,704 5,704
R-squared 0.031 0.054 0.059 0.135 0.160 0.152 0.186 0.062
Mean of dep var. 0.136 0.359 0.505 0.073 0.08 0.066 5.79 0.941

PANEL B in the last 2 weeks, had: anthropometrics (WHO) in sd has
fever cough diarrhea ht/a wt/a wt/ht health card
active*mine -0.035 -0.061* 0.042 -3.532 -5.208 -0.641 0.014
(0.037) (0.033) (0.027) (11.472) (9.283) (8.948) (0.027)
Mine -0.002 -0.006 -0.038 -0.828 3.481 3.853 -0.006
(0.031) (0.028) (0.024) (10.385) (8.574) (7.468) (0.022)
Active 0.023 -0.003 -0.033** -1.904 5.265 9.433* 0.009
(0.020) (0.020) (0.016) (5.942) (5.304) (5.183) (0.012)

Observations 6,246 6,257 6,262 5,627 5,627 5,727 6,378
R-squared 0.024 0.043 0.024 0.136 0.080 0.036 0.084
Mean of dep var. 0.211 0.221 0.164 -101.6 -60.3 -16.7 0.913

Note: In panel A, active is status of mine in birth year; in panel B, active is active status of mine in survey year.
Robust standard errors clustered at the DHS cluster level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and district
fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years of education. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. OLS = ordinary least
squares.

In panel C of figure 4, infant mortality is re-estimated using different distance spans. The
decrease in child mortality decreases almost linearly with the increase in distance bins, an
indication that the effects are only found close to a mine. The largest drop, and the only
significantly negative drop, is found for the distance bin 0–20 km.

An active mine is associated with a decrease in cough among children under age five (panel B
of table 5), and children are also (insignificantly) more likely to have a health card. An active
mine is associated with decreases in the anthropometrics measures (World Health Organization
measures in standard deviations), such as height-for-age and weight-for-age. However, the
standard errors for these coefficients are very large relative to the estimated coefficients, which
is why the effects are imprecisely estimated.

19
Diarrhea is a major concern in many developing countries. Diarrheal diseases are, in part, a
matter of infrastructure, where access to clean water and proper sanitation are important
determinants. To further understand the effects on diarrhea, we look at the difference between
migrants and nonmigrants and the effects by distance. There are, in fact, large differences
between the migrant and the nonmigrant populations. Among nonmigrants, a mine opening is
associated with large decreases in incidence, whereas for migrants, the opposite is true.
Considering all children between 0 km and 20 km of an active mine, children born to migrant
mothers are 6.9 percentage points more likely to have suffered from diarrheal diseases in the
two weeks prior to the surveying.

To further understand these effects, we decompose them by distance bins in a spatial lag model
(bottom two graphs in figure 5). It becomes evident that, from a high-level incidence (dashed
line) among the original local population (panel A of figure 5), the mine has brought substantial
reductions in diarrheal incidence (as shown by the blue line). In the migrant population, the
incidence is actually higher after mine opening than before, and the likelihood increases by 6.9
percentage points. The spatial lag model in panel b of figure 5 reveals that much of the effect
is driven by a spike in incidence 10 to 20 km away from the mine center point. If more migrants
move to the area because of the mine, they will be less settled, and health outcomes can
deteriorate, on average, within that population. Nevertheless, we should be careful in
interpreting the effects this way. The mine-induced migration, which we partly capture here,
could be different from the migration happening further away. The deteriorating status of
migrants can thus in part be because a less-well-off part of the population chooses to migrate to
mining areas, not that they are made worse off because of the mine activities.

We also explored a decomposition of the anthropometric results along the migration division,
but we found no important differences.

20
Figure 5 Diarrheal incidence among children under 5 by migration status

Panel A Non-migrants Panel B Migrants

Note: Figure 5 shows the main treatment coefficients (active*mine) using the baseline estimation strategy (with
DHS individual-level data; see table 4 for more information) in the top panel, but with different cutoffs (10 km,
20 km, 30 km, 40 km, and 50 km). *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. The bottom panel shows the result using a
spatial lag model that divided the plane into different treatment bins (0–10, 10–20, 20–30, 40–50) and compares
them with farther away. Panel A shows the result for nonmigrants, and panel B shows the result for migrants.

5.1.3 Wealth, inequality, and access to infrastructure and health care

Table 6 presents the effects of mining on asset wealth and on asset wealth inequality. Wealth
data are available in the form of a wealth index, but only for the two last DHS surveys.
Following Fenske (2013) and Flatø and Kotsadam (2014), we calculate inequality by means of
a Gini coefficient (recoding the wealth variable to be positive only, and using the command
fastgini10 in STATA). We do this for both the cluster and district level. None of the effects of
mining are statistically significant, but they point to increased asset wealth.

10
Fastgini is a user-written command in STATA that helps calculate the gini coefficient.

21
Table 6 OLS estimates for wealth and inequality in the DHS individual-level analysis

Wealth Gini

wealth cluster district
index level level

active*mine 7,290 -0.004 0.004
(12,849) (0.013) (0.018)
mine 9,922 0.011 0.006
(8,676) (0.013) (0.016)
active 7,854 -0.006 0.034**
(9,016) (0.010) (0.017)

Observations 4,909 4,909 4,909
R-squared 0.613 0.227 0.548

We continue by exploring asset ownership and access to infrastructure. Table 7 shows that
fewer households have electricity in active mining communities, but they spend less time
fetching water and are more likely to own a radio (all estimates are insignificant, however).
There is no change in the likelihood of having a flush toilet; however, it seems like more
households do not have a toilet (and use a bucket, bush, and so forth) instead of having access
to a pit toilet.

Table 7 OLS estimates for ownership of assets and access to infrastructure

water access household has
in less flush pit no
minutes 10 min. electricity radio toilet toilet toilet

active*mine -1.485 0.039 -0.095* 0.054 0.005 -0.015 0.010
(1.933) (0.048) (0.056) (0.036) (0.023) (0.033) (0.027)
mine -0.134 -0.013 0.099* 0.005 0.010 -0.012 0.002
(1.805) (0.039) (0.054) (0.029) (0.021) (0.029) (0.021)
Active 0.007 0.001 0.050** 0.034** -0.032 0.054** -0.023
(1.012) (0.026) (0.024) (0.017) (0.021) (0.026) (0.022)

Observations 9,790 9,790 12,226 12,216 12,227 12,227 12,227
R-squared 0.128 0.180 0.453 0.148 0.208 0.171 0.095
mean of dep var 0.407 14.84 0.565 0.652 0.151 0.732 11.6

22
Overall, we estimated in table 7 that a household’s access to electricity decreased when a mine
became active. This finding is surprising if we assume that electricity infrastructure is seldom
destroyed, so that with time, access has generally been increasing.11 Figure 6 further
decomposes the effect, and panel Aa of the figure confirms that the coefficient for electricity
access is negative using the treatment distance 20 km. However, with a treatment distance of
10 km, the effect is marginally positive. If we use a treatment distance of 50 km, we no longer
see a significant effect. In panel Ab, the results are replicated using a spatial lag model, meaning
that we allow for nonlinear effects with distance. In reality, it seems like the electricity rate is
much higher before a mine (dashed line) than with an active mine (the blue line).

Figure 6 Access to infrastructure: Varying the cutoff and spatial lag model

Panel A Household has electricity Panel B Household has radio

a. Varying cutoff a. Varying cutoff

b. Spatial lag model b. Spatial lag model

11
It is also possible that mining companies compete with households for electricity if supply cannot be increased
in the short run.

23
c. Spatial lag model by migration status c. Spatial lag model by migration status

Note: The figure shows the main treatment coefficients (active*mine) using the baseline estimation strategy (with
DHS individual-level data; see table 4 for more information) in panel A, but with different distance cutoffs (10
km, 20 km, 30 km, 40 km, or 50 km). *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. Panels Ab, Ac, Bb, and Bc show the result
using spatial lag models, which divided the plane into different treatment bins (0 –10, 10–20, 20–30, 40–50) and
compares them with farther away. Panel B shows the result for all individuals, and panel C shows the main
treatment result (active mine) when the sample has been split into migrants and nonmigrants.

The results, however, when decomposed by migrant status in panel Ac of figure 6 show that
migrants are driving the lower electricity rate. In fact, among nonmigrants, the electricity rate
is higher 0–10 km from an active mine, although it is slightly lower 10–20 km away.

In panels Ba, Bb, and Bc of figure 6, we analyze access to radio. We learn that access to radio
is higher close to active mines, and that this seems true according to both the first method (Ba),
according to the spatial lag model (Bb), and for both migrants and nonmigrants (Bc). The
difference in effects between electricity and radio access might be due to electricity being more
dependent on public infrastructure, and that electricity access may come with a time lag to other
development indicators such as employment and access to radio, since a battery radio can be
bought and used instantly, and easily moved. The same decomposition on toilet facilities
revealed no differences between migrants and nonmigrants (results available upon request),
since the access to flush toilet was insignificantly higher for both groups close to active mines.

To understand the welfare effects of the bottom 40 percent of the population in the income
scale, we split the sample according to the wealth score provided by DHS. Given the data
structure, which is repeated cross-section, we cannot follow a particular household that was
identified as belonging to the bottom 40 percent prior in the initial time period. Instead, we
identify the bottom 40 percent in four groups: far away, before mine or during mine, and close
to mine, before mine or during mine. The summary statistics for selected main outcomes are
presented in table 8. As the table shows, the bottom 40 percent in mining communities are more

24
likely engaging in agriculture than the bottom 40 percent elsewhere. This could illustrate that
agricultural workers are overrepresented among the less well-off in mining communities.
However, women in this group still more often work in services than women did before in the
same communities.

Table 8 Summary statistics for bottom 40% of women

(1) (2) (3) (4)
far from a mine close to a mine
before during before during
woman’s occupation
not working 0.188 0.183 0.200 0.162
service & sales 0.340 0.203 0.179 0.222
professional 0.018 0.005 0.014 0.006
agriculture 0.362 0.530 0.490 0.539
manual labor 0.091 0.079 0.117 0.072

earning cash 0.876 0.855 0.879 0.901
work all year 0.852 0.859 0.879 0.838

Note: Column (1) is bottom 40% of sample at 20 to 100 km from a nonactive mine.
Column (2) is bottom 40% of sample at 20 to 100 km from an active mine.
Column (3) is bottom 40% of sample within 20 km of a nonactive mine.
Column (4) is bottom 40% of sample within 20 km of an active mine.

Regression results comparing these four groups are presented in panel B (urban) of table 9. The
results suggest that women in the bottom 40 percent are more likely agricultural workers in
mining communities than elsewhere, but also more often service sector workers. They are less
likely to work in manual labor, less likely to work all year, but more likely to earn cash for
work. This indicates, possibly, that the economy becomes more reliant on cash as a mine starts
producing. It is possible that the difference from the main results presented in table 4 indicates
that agricultural workers are overrepresented among the bottom 40 percent in mining
communities. However, given the issues associated with doing this analysis with repeated cross-
section, we should be cautious in interpreting these results.

25
Table 9 Heterogeneous effects for bottom 40%, with urban locality interactions, intensity of
mining, and timing of opening
Woman’s occupation
agri- service profess- manual not earns works
culture sales ional labor working cash all year

PANEL A: Bottom 40%
active*mine 0.033 0.029 -0.004 -0.078** 0.020 0.089*** -0.083*
(0.068) (0.048) (0.019) (0.038) (0.059) (0.034) (0.044)
Mine -0.009 0.044 0.006 0.018 -0.058 -0.065** 0.012
(0.057) (0.040) (0.010) (0.038) (0.046) (0.032) (0.036)
Active 0.068 -0.071* -0.008 0.014 -0.003 -0.052 -0.064*
(0.041) (0.038) (0.007) (0.025) (0.031) (0.048) (0.036)

Observations 2,536 2,536 2,536 2,536 2,082 2,083 2,536
PANEL B: Urban
active*mine -0.037 0.022 -0.013 0.019 0.009 0.062** -0.014
(0.044) (0.034) (0.010) (0.023) (0.025) (0.028) (0.034)
Mine -0.005 0.046 -0.002 -0.018 -0.022 -0.068*** -0.011
(0.033) (0.031) (0.008) (0.020) (0.022) (0.023) (0.026)
Active 0.007 -0.005 -0.008 0.012 -0.007 -0.046** 0.004
(0.024) (0.021) (0.005) (0.015) (0.015) (0.021) (0.022)
active*mine*urban 0.074 0.004 -0.022 -0.038 -0.018 -0.041 -0.002
(0.054) (0.058) (0.024) (0.037) (0.042) (0.052) (0.052)
active*urban 0.011 0.009 0.002 -0.006 -0.015 0.015 -0.019
(0.025) (0.025) (0.010) (0.017) (0.019) (0.021) (0.023)
mine*urban -0.121*** 0.052 0.006 0.040 0.024 -0.004 0.001
(0.043) (0.045) (0.017) (0.029) (0.033) (0.043) (0.045)
Urban -0.240*** 0.130*** 0.009 0.033** 0.068*** 0.013 0.026
(0.023) (0.023) (0.008) (0.016) (0.018) (0.018) (0.022)

Observations 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 9,262 7,085
PANEL C. Intensity -0.026 0.039* -0.020*** 0.005 0.001 0.038* -0.010
#active*mines
(0.028) (0.024) (0.007) (0.017) (0.020) (0.021) (0.021)
Mines -0.023 0.047 0.001 -0.009 -0.016 -0.063*** -0.012
(0.030) (0.028) (0.008) (0.018) (0.020) (0.021) (0.023)
Active 0.014 -0.001 -0.006 0.009 -0.016 -0.037** -0.007
(0.015) (0.016) (0.006) (0.011) (0.012) (0.015) (0.016)

Observations 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 12,176 9,262 7,085
PANEL D. Robustness
1. Drop 20-40 km
active*mine -0.040 0.020 -0.024** 0.017 0.026 0.078*** 0.023
(0.043) (0.030) (0.009) (0.022) (0.024) (0.028) (0.040)
2. Drop 2 years before
active*mines -0.013 0.025 -0.018* 0.002 0.003 0.075*** -0.028
(0.040) (0.030) (0.009) (0.021) (0.024) (0.028) (0.037)
Note: Robust standard errors clustered at the DHS cluster level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and
district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years of education. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. Panel A is limited
to bottom 40% in the income distribution, panel B uses urban interaction, and panel C has a count variable for
active mines. Panel D1 drops sample between 20 and 40 km away, and D2 drops individuals samples two years
before mine opening. 151 women are sampled within 20km from an active mine and in an urban area, and 246
women are sampled within 20km from a mine regardless of its activity status and in an urban area.

26
5.1.4 Spatial heterogeneity and intensity of mining

In panel B (urban) of table 9, we interact our treatment variables (active*mine, mine, active)
with an indicator variable for whether the locality is urban. This allows us to pick up potential
differential effects across urban compared to rural localities. None of the treatment effects are
statistically significantly different between rural and urban areas.12 In panel C, we have
constructed a new treatment variable #active*mines that counts the number of actively
producing mines within 20 km. Women are sampled within 20 km of one mine (593 women),
within 20 km of two mines (137 women), and within 20 km of three mines (64 women). The
mean value of the independent variable is 0.085 - that is, on average women are close to 0.085
mines. Conditional on being close to a mine, the main independent variable is 1.33 - that is, a
woman sampled close to a mine is close to 1.33 mines on average. Panel C of table 9 shows the
effects on women’s labor market participation. We note that the estimates are similar in
direction as before, where mines are positively associated with service and sales jobs and with
cash earnings, but negatively associated with agriculture and professional jobs.

Panel D of table 9 shows the results if we drop the part of the sample that lives 20 km to 40 km
away from a mine, and if we drop those that are sampled two years before mine opening. The
rationale for this is to have a cleaner control group, since those that live just outside our 20 km
cutoff distance may also be “treated” by the mine, and the investment phase of the mine that
precedes initial production can generate substantial employment. Overall, the effects do not
change much except making the cash earnings coefficient larger and more significant. The
increase in cash earning opportunities is estimated at 7.5 to 7.8 percentage points compared
with 5.4 in the baseline estimation.

5.1.5 Employment and wages from GLSS

The DHS data do not provide detailed information regarding how much an individual earns for
work, or her wage rate, but the GLSS does collect such data. First, we try to replicate the results
estimated with the DHS data. Panel A of table 10 confirms that agriculture becomes less
important in mining communities for women, who mainly shift into services and sales.

12
Few of the other interaction coefficients are also statistically significant. The interaction between urban*mine
is significant, and women in urban localities with a future mine are 12 percentage points less likely to be
working in agriculture.

27
Table 10 Using GLSS: Employment on extensive and intensive margin and wages

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
worked work 7 hours agri- service miner
last year days worked culture and sales
per week
Panel A: Women
1. baseline
active*mine -0.067* -0.032 3.565 -0.075 0.074 0.025
(0.040) (0.038) (3.140) (0.064) (0.054) (0.016)
2. drop 20-40 km
active*mine -0.062 -0.039 3.849 -0.076 0.094* 0.026*
(0.040) (0.039) (3.359) (0.064) (0.057) (0.015)
3. drop 2 years before
active*mine -0.067* -0.031 3.565 -0.087 0.080 0.024
(0.040) (0.038) (3.140) (0.065) (0.055) (0.016)
4. mine FE
active*mine -0.067 -0.012 8.560* -0.084 0.104 0.025*
(0.051) (0.048) (5.125) (0.075) (0.065) (0.015)
5. mine clustering
active*mine -0.067* -0.032 3.565 -0.075 0.074 0.025
(0.032) (0.036) (3.521) (0.081) (0.080) (0.022)

Mean dep var. 0.727 0.673 40.39 42.32 0.391 0.005
Panel B: Men
1. baseline -0.086** -0.055 3.705 -0.058 -0.032 0.125***
active*mine (0.041) (0.039) (3.460) (0.066) (0.036) (0.043)

2. drop 20-40 km
active*mine -0.094** -0.062 3.893 -0.064 -0.031 0.126***
(0.042) (0.040) (3.842) (0.066) (0.038) (0.042)
3. drop 2 years before
active*mine -0.094** -0.062 3.708 -0.071 -0.026 0.125***
(0.041) (0.039) (3.459) (0.067) (0.036) (0.043)
4. mine FE
active*mine -0.123** -0.094* 8.233 -0.068 -0.049 0.113**
(0.057) (0.051) (5.425) (0.075) (0.044) (0.045)
5. mine clustering
active*mine -0.086*** -0.055** 3.705 -0.058 -0.032 0.125**
(0.025) (0.025) (2.898) (0.086) (0.032) (0.051)

Mean dep var 0.715 0.705 45.71 0.491 0.259 0.028

Note: The table uses GLSS data for Ghana for the survey years 1998, 2005, 2012. The sample is restricted to
women and men aged 15–49. Robust standard errors clustered at the village or neighborhood level in parentheses
(except if otherwise stated). All regressions control for year and district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years
of education. Active is active status of mine in the survey year. The treatment distance is defined to 20km. Rows
2 drop sample between 20 to 40 km of a mine, and rows 3 drop sample that was surveyed two years before mine
opening. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. FE = fixed effects.

28
To show the robustness of these results, we have tried three alternative strategies for each of
the outcomes. In row 2, we drop the sample that lives 20 to 40 km away, since they might be
affected by the mine; in row 3, we drop the sample that was surveyed two years prior to mine
opening; in row 4, we add closest mine fixed effects; and in row 5 we cluster on the closest
mine. The coefficients do not change much, even if some magnitudes become bigger and the
estimates more significant. However, as in the results using DHS data, these estimates are not
precisely measured – few are statistically significant because the standard errors appear large.

Women are 7.4 to 10.4 percentage points more likely to work in service or sales if they live
close to a mine (depending on the estimations in panel A columns 1–4). Women close to mines
are 2.5 to 2.6 percentage points more likely to work in mining.

Men, on the other hand, (results shown in panel B of table 10), are more likely to work in
mining, and less in agriculture or service and sales. The likelihood that a man works in mining
increases by 11.3 to 12.6 percentage points, which is more than a 400 percent increase in
likelihood from the mean value which is 2.8%. For both men and women, the results are
indicative of changes in labor force participation on the extensive and intensive margin. Fewer
people work, as indicated by columns (1) and (2) (significant for men), but those who work,
work more hours than before (column 3, albeit insignificant).

In figure 7, we present the results graphically and show the spatial structure for a subset of the
variables. We see that the likelihood of a woman working in services decreases with distance
from mine, and log wages are higher within 10 to 20 km of an active mine. Men are, not
surprisingly, more likely to work as miners close to an active mine, and the correlation
decreases with distance. Wages for men are also higher close to active mines (panel D). Beyond
40 km, the estimated effects are close to zero.

29
Figure 7 Using GLSS: Employment and wages

Panel A Woman working in services Panel B Log wages (woman)

Panel C Man working in mining Panel D Log wages (man)

Note: The four panels show the regression results from four spatial lag models using the GLSS sample. The sample
is restricted to women (top two) and men (bottom two) aged 15 –49. The solid lines are the coefficient for
active*mine for 7 distance bins (0–10 km, 10–20 km, … 60–70 km) compared with a control group (80 –100 km)
away. The regressions also control for mine location at the same distances. See table 11 for control variables.

Table 11 shows that log annual wages are higher close to mines (column 1), and that most of
the increase is driven by the increase in wage rates for women (column 2). Women, however,
have lower wages before the mine, and a smaller share of women earn wages. Despite the
possible gains in wages for wage earners, we note a decrease in the regionally deflated total
household expenditure (column 5), and a decrease in per capita expenditure on food and
nonfood items (column 4). The increase in wages but decrease in total expenditure can possibly
be explained by rising prices and wages in mining communities, where everyone has to pay the
higher prices but only some (those who earn wages), benefit from a rise in wage rate.

30
Columns 6 through 9 of table 11 look at nondeflated expenditure measures for food, housing,
health and education, and household energy.13 We confirm that total household expenditure on
food decreases (compared with the per capita deflated measure in column (4)), but find that
households spend more money on housing, transport, and communication, and household
energy, such as electricity and gas. The electricity and gas expenditure is only for those who
have any positive expenditure on these, and we saw earlier that electricity access changes with
the mine. This confirms that, among those who spend anything on electricity, they spend more
on it in mining communities.

Table 11 Using GLSS: Household income and expenditure

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
ln Ln ln ln household level ln expenditure
wages Wages wages pc total health hh
all Women men exp. exp. food housing education energy
active*mine 0.520** 0.694*** 0.391 -0.178* -0.126 -0.069 0.316** -0.168 0.297**
(0.226) (0.241) (0.238) (0.093) (0.089) (0.095) (0.139) (0.199) (0.119)

Observ. 6,226 2,914 3,312 7,522 7,522 7,396 7,420 6,541 4,752
R-squared 0.121 0.128 0.118 0.959 0.964 0.963 0.933 0.837 0.950

controls
individual Y Y Y
hh head Y Y Y Y Y Y
hh size Y Y Y Y Y
district fe Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
year fe Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y

deflated N N N Y Y N N N N
mean (ln) 15.30 15.29 15.31 13.04 14.19 13.42 10.88 10.74 9.52
Note: (1) Annual wages and salaries for individuals in all ages (nondeflated).
(2) Annual wages and salaries for women in all ages (nondeflated).
(3) Annual wages and salaries for men in all ages (nondeflated).
(4) Real per capita annual food and nonfood expenditure (regionally deflated).
(5) Total annual regionally adjusted household expenditure (local currency, regionally deflated).
(6) Total food expenditure (nondeflated).
(7) Total housing expenditure (nondeflated).
(8) Total health and education expenditure (nondeflated).
(9) Total household energy expenditure (gas and electricity) (nondeflated).
*** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1. All regressions control for year and district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and
years of education.

13
Additional results for recreation and transport and communication are available upon request. The expenditure
on the three measures increased in mining communities.

31
5.2 District-level estimations

5.2.1 Difference-in-differences

The results for female employment in the district-level analysis are shown in table 12.
Agricultural work decreases for women in mining districts and manual work increases.
Following from this, the likelihood that a woman is working year-round increases.14 This is
similar to what we saw in the individual-level regressions, but the results are now statistically
significant.

Table 12 Effects of mine opening at the district level on female employment

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Not agri- service profess- manual earns works
working culture or sales ional work cash all year

Active district 0.019 -0.085** 0.034 -0.018** 0.050** -0.021 0.054*
(0.027) (0.042) (0.030) (0.008) (0.020) (0.049) (0.032)

observations 19,226 19,226 19,226 19,226 19,226 19,270 15,991
R-squared 0.207 0.327 0.128 0.137 0.037 0.213 0.278

Investigating the district-level effects on children’s health and birth outcomes in table 13, we
note a higher number of prenatal visits and an increase in attendance of a midwife in panel A.
These results are highly statistically significant and the effects are economically significant. A
mine opening increases the number of prenatal visits by 0.76 and increases the probability that
the birth was preceded by a prenatal visit supervised by a midwife by 12.5 percentage points.
In column 6 of panel A, we see that mine openings in a district reduce child mortality. The
probability of an infant dying before 12 months of age is reduced by 8.5 percentage points.
Given the importance of child mortality for human welfare, we strongly encourage future
research to investigate the mechanisms behind these striking results. Since the share of prenatal
visits supervised by a midwife also increases with mine openings, the results potentially speak
to the importance of midwives for reducing infant mortality.

14
Working year-round is derived from a question if the woman works occasionally, all year or seasonally.
Agricultural work also decreases for the partners of the women (results are available upon request).

32
Table 13 Effects of mine opening at the district level on birth outcomes and child health

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
antenatal at least 1 doctor midwife has health died
PANEL A. # visits antenatal attended attended card 12 months
active
0.759*** 0.026 0.055 0.125*** 0.039 -0.085***
district
(0.244) (0.022) (0.115) (0.033) (0.059) (0.031)
N 9,245 9,245 9,462 9,462 11,047 9,270
R-square 0.242 0.121 0.160 0.154 0.161 0.138
at birth, the child was
small average large height weight weight
PANELB. size size size for age for age for height
active
0.066 0.078 -0.148 -6.333 -23.676** -20.080
district
(0.057) (0.085) (0.090) (18.753) (9.364) (13.428)
N 11,837 11,007 11,007 9,646 9,646 9,851
R-square 0.041 0.061 0.060 0.199 0.163 0.073
in the last 2 weeks, had
PANEL C. fever cough diarrhea
active
0.016 0.010 0.058
district
(0.057) (0.035) (0.036)
N 10,849 10,883 10,887
R-square 0.052 0.046 0.055

Note: Robust standard errors clustered at the district level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and
district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years of education. Active is active status of mine in the survey year.
Panel b, columns 1, 2, and 3 show size at birth. Panel B, columns 4, 5, and 6 show anthropometrics (new WHO)
in standard deviations. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1.

The effects on child health are, however, not all positive. We note, particularly, a statistically
significant decrease in weight-for-age, but the other two measures are also negative (panel B of
table 13). Low weight-for-age is an indicator for acute malnutrition, whereas height-for-age is
an indicator for chronic malnutrition. This could indicate that mining districts are less food
secure.15 Table 13 shows that there are no effects on illness in the last two weeks.

5.2.2 Production levels

Using production levels instead of an indicator of having any production in the district has the
advantage of capturing the intensity of mining production. Since it is somewhat unclear when
mining production spills over to other types of employment, we use two measures of mining
production. Panel A of table 14 shows the results of mining production in the period before the
survey, including the survey year, on female employment, and we see that mining production

15
In table 5 we saw very small insignificant changes in nutritional status.
33
leads to less agricultural employment but more employment in services and sales, as well as in
professional work. Panel B shows that the effects are larger but not as precisely estimated for
the yearly measure. That they are larger is not surprising, since a 10-ton increase one year is
much more than a 10-ton increase over a longer time period. The precision is also probably
lower since it is unclear what year the production spills over to other activities. In any case, we
see that the effects are similar across these two specifications.16

Table 14 Effects of gold production at the district level on employment

Panel A: Using production in the previous period
(3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (1) (2)
not agri- service or profess- manual earns works all
working culture sales ional work cash year

gold period 0.003 -0.009** 0.003* 0.004*** -0.002 -0.001 0.008**
District (0.004) (0.004) (0.002) (0.002) (0.004) (0.002) (0.003)

observations 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,270 15,991
R-squared 0.207 0.327 0.127 0.137 0.037 0.213 0.278
PANEL B. Using production in the same year
(3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (1) (2)
not agri- service profess- manual earns works
working culture or sales ional work cash all year

gold year 0.012 -0.033 0.020 0.019* -0.018 -0.010 0.041***
district (0.022) (0.025) (0.013) (0.011) (0.015) (0.009) (0.008)

observations 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,270 15,991
R-squared 0.207 0.327 0.128 0.137 0.037 0.213 0.278

In table 15, we have added the gold production of the mining areas to their neighbors and we
estimate the spillover effects of mining production in a district on employment in adjacent
districts. As before, panel A shows effects of increasing production in the previous period, and
panel B shows the effects of increased production in the survey year. There is no evidence of
spillovers in the sense that there is a similar effect in neighboring districts. In fact, most
coefficients point in the opposite direction for mining and neighboring districts indicating, if
anything, a shift in employment from neighboring districts to the producing ones.

16
The effects for infant health and infant mortality are also stronger when we add production levels (results
available upon request).

34
Table 15 Spillovers on employment across districts

Panel A: Using production in the previous period
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
not agri- service profess- manual earns works
VARIABLES working culture or sales ional work cash all year
gold period 0.004 -0.009** 0.003* 0.004*** -0.002 0.001 0.006
District (0.004) (0.004) (0.002) (0.002) (0.004) (0.003) (0.004)

neighbor -0.004 0.005 -0.001 -0.002*** 0.001 0.008* -0.002
gold production (0.004) (0.004) (0.004) (0.001) (0.003) (0.004) (0.004)

observations 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 14,852 11,568
R-squared 0.207 0.327 0.127 0.137 0.037 0.146 0.255

Panel B: Using production in the same year
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
not agri- service profess- manual earns works
VARIABLES working culture or sales ional work cash all year
gold period 0.012 -0.033 0.020 0.019* -0.018 -0.001 0.028
District (0.022) (0.024) (0.013) (0.011) (0.015) (0.015) (0.022)

neighbor -0.042** 0.036 0.007 -0.009** 0.008 0.020 0.013
gold production (0.017) (0.025) (0.021) (0.004) (0.010) (0.025) (0.019)

observations 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 19,175 14,852 11,568
R-squared 0.207 0.327 0.128 0.137 0.037 0.146 0.255
Note: Robust standard errors clustered at the district level in parentheses. All regressions control for year and
district fixed effects, urban dummy, age, and years of education. *** p<0.01, **p<0.05, *p<0.1.

6 Conclusion

Ghana has a long history of gold production and is now experiencing its third gold rush, during
which annual gold production has skyrocketed. It is the first gold rush the country has
experienced as an independent nation, and it brings hope of improving the lives of its citizens.
Natural resource extraction is often argued to have detrimental effects on countries, however,
and the so-called natural resource curse may imply that resource wealth is harmful to social
development and inclusive growth. We use rich geocoded data with information on households
and mining production over time to evaluate the gold boom at the local and district levels in
difference-in-differences analyses.

Men benefit from direct job creation within the mining sector, and women benefit from
indirectly generated jobs in the service sector. Women are more likely to earn cash and less
likely to work in agriculture after mine openings. We find similar results when we analyze the

35
effects at the district level and when we use production levels instead of openings and closings
of mines. We interpret this as there being additional effects of being very close to a mine (within
20 km), beyond the effects from being in a mining district. No spillovers into neighboring
districts are detected.

The results are in accordance with the results in Kotsadam and Tolonen (2014), who find similar
effects on occupation in mining communities across the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa, and with
Aragón and Rud (2013b), who find that agricultural productivity in Ghana is reduced by mining
production nearby. We find no statistically significant results on wealth and inequality, although
the results point toward increases in both. The effects on infrastructure are ambiguous; we
cannot detect any better access to flush toilets and radios, and the effects on electricity access
are negative. Further decomposing these effects, we learn that migrant households are less
likely to have access to electricity, whereas nonmigrant households that never moved might
gain better access to electricity.

Applying the same strategies to analyze child health and birth outcomes, we find both positive
and negative effects of mining activity. Mining activity appears to reduce the anthropometric
status (short-term malnutrition) of children in mining districts, which could point to less food
security. These results are in sharp contrast to the improvements in birth attendance and the
decrease in infant mortality observed in mining communities and mining districts. A child in a
mining district born after a mine has become active has had more prenatal visits and is less
likely to die as an infant. This result is similar to what Tolonen (2014) finds for a larger sample
of gold-producing countries in Africa. Despite substantial reductions in diarrheal diseases, the
analysis highlights that migrant children are more likely to suffer from diarrheal diseases. The
effects on the migrant community should be interpreted with care, however, since it may be that
less-well-off people choose to migrate to mining communities and that the mine activities do
not make them any less or better off.

The analysis shows that mining has created structural shifts in labor markets, and that it has
reduced infant mortality rates. However, the migrant population may have lower living
standards with less electricity and a higher disease burden among children. We have no
information where the migrant population moved from, and we cannot tell whether they have
migrated to the area to benefit from the industry, or whether they were part of a relocation
program due to the mining. Regardless of the motivation behind the migration decision, the

36
policy recommendation is to ensure policies are in place to ensure sustainable living conditions
in this group.

37
References

Aragón, F. M., P. Chuhan-Pole, and B. C. Land. 2015. “The Local Economic Impacts of
Resource Abundance: What Have We Learned?” Mimeo. World Bank, Washington,
DC.
Aragón, F. M., and J. P. Rud. 2013a. “Modern Industries, Pollution and Agricultural
Productivity: Evidence from Mining in Ghana.” Working Paper, International Growth
Centre (IGC), London.
Aragón, F. M., and J. P. Rud. 2013b. “Natural Resources and Local Communities: Evidence
from a Peruvian Gold Mine.” American Economic Journal, Economic Policy 5 (2): 1–
25.
Aryee, B. N. 2001. “Ghana’s mining sector: its contribution to the national economy.”
Resources Policy 27 (2): 61–75.
Bermudez-Lugo, O. 2012. “The mineral industry of Ghana.” In Minerals Yearbook: Area
Reports International Review of 2010 Africa and the Middle East. United States
Geological Survey (USGS), pp. 19–1.
———. 2013. “The mineral industry of Ghana.” In Minerals Yearbook: Area Reports
International Review of 2011 Africa and the Middle East. United States Geological
Survey (USGS), pp. 19–1.
Caselli, F., and G. Michaels. 2013. “Do Oil Windfalls Improve Living Standards? Evidence
from Brazil.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5 (1): 208–238.
Corno, L., and D. de Walque. 2012. “Mines, Migration and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa.”
Journal of African Economies 21 (3): 465–498.
Fafchamps, M., M. Koelle, and S. Forhad. 2015. “Gold Mining and Proto-Urbanization: Recent
evidence from Ghana.” Mimeo. World Bank, Washington, DC.
Fenske, J. 2013. “African polygamy: Past and present.” MRPA Paper No. 48526, MRPA,
Munich.
Flatø, M., and A. Kotsadam. 2014. “Droughts and Gender Bias in Infant Mortality in Sub-
Saharan Africa.” University of Oslo (UiO) Working Paper No. 02/2014, Oslo.
Frankel, J. A. 2010. “The Natural Resource Curse: A Survey.” NBER Working Paper 15836.
Gajigo, O., E. Mutambatsere, and G. Mdiaye. 2012. “Gold Mining in Africa: Maximizing
Economic Returns for Countries.” African Development Bank, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Garvin, T., T. K. McGee, K. E. Smoyer-Tomic, and E. A. Aubynn. 2009. “Community--
company relations in gold mining in Ghana”. Journal of Environmental Management.
Hilson. G. 2009. “Small-scale mining, poverty and economic development in sub-Saharan
Africa: An overview” Resources Policy.
Hilson. G. 2002. “Harvesting mineral riches: 1000 years of gold mining in Ghana.”
Resources Policy, Elsevier, 2002, 28, 13-26

Hilson, G., and N. Yakoleva. 2007. “Strained relations: A critical analysis of the mining conflict
in Prestea, Ghana.” Political Geography 26 (1): 1–22.

38
ILO (International Labour Organization). 1999. Social and Labour Issues in Small-scale Mines:
Report for Discussion at the Tripartite Meeting on Social and Labour Issues in Small-
scale Mines. Geneva.
InterraRMG. 2013. http://www.rmg.se/Products/RawMaterialsData.aspx.
Kotsadam, A., and A. Tolonen. 2014. “African Mining, Gender and Local Employment.”
Mimeo. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg.
Loayza, N., A. Mier y Teran, and J. Rigolini. 2013. “Poverty, inequality, and the local natural
resource curse.” Discussion Paper Series, Forschungsinstitut zur Zujunft der Arbeit,
7226, Bonn.
Michaels, G. 2011. “The Long Term Consequences of Resource-Based Specialisation.” The
Economic Journal 121: 31–57.
MineAtlas. 2013. https://mining-atlas.com/
Standing, A., and G. Hilson. 2013. “Distributing mining wealth to communities in Ghana:
Addressing problems of elite capture and political corruption.” U4 issue 2013 (5).
Tolonen, A. 2014. “Local Industrial Shocks, Female Empowerment and Infant Health:
Evidence from Africa’s Gold Mining Industry.” Mimeo. University of Gothenburg,
Gothenburg.
van der Ploeg, F. 2011. “Natural Resources: Curse or Blessing?” Journal of Economic
Literature 49 (2): 366–420.
von der Goltz, J., and P. Barnwal. 2014. “Mines, the Local Welfare Effects of Mines in
Developing Countries.” Department of Economics Discussion Papers, 1314–19, 31 (6):
797–812.
Wilson, N. “Economic Booms and Risky Sexual Behavior: Evidence from Zambian Copper
Mining Cities.” Journal of Health Economics 31 (6): 797–812.
World Bank. 2011. “Global Economic Prospects June 2011. Regional Annex.” World Bank,
Washington, DC.

39
Appendix 1: List of outcome variables

women’s characteristics
age Age of respondent
total children Total lifetime fertility
wealth Household wealth index score
nonmigrant Respondent was born in the location and has never moved
migrant Any respondent who has ever moved in their life.
urban The household lives in urban area

woman’s occupation
not working Was not working in last 12 months
service & sales Works in services or sales
professional Works as a professional
agriculture Works in agriculture
manual labor Works in manual labor
earning cash Earns cash for work (0= not paid, in kind)
works all year Works all year (0= seasonally, occasionally)

woman’s education
3 years education At least 3 years of education
no education No education

infant mortality
first 12 months Child died within 12 months from birth

child health
diarrhea Child had diarrhea in last 2 weeks
cough Child had cough in last 2 weeks
fever Child had fever in last 2 weeks

child anthropometrics
ht/age (st dev.) Height for age (standard deviation)
wt/age (st dev.) Weight for age (standard deviation)
wh/ht (st dev.) Weight for height (standard deviation)

40
Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Papers
(Since July 2014)

The Poverty & Equity Global Practice Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to
encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the
findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of
the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in
this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or
those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent.

This series is co‐published with the World Bank Policy Research Working Papers (DECOS). It is part of a
larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and contribute to development
policy discussions around the world.

For the latest paper, visit our GP’s intranet at http://POVERTY.

1 Estimating poverty in the absence of consumption data: the case of Liberia
Dabalen, A. L., Graham, E., Himelein, K., Mungai, R., September 2014

2 Female labor participation in the Arab world: some evidence from panel data in Morocco
Barry, A. G., Guennouni, J., Verme, P., September 2014

3 Should income inequality be reduced and who should benefit? redistributive preferences in Europe and
Central Asia
Cojocaru, A., Diagne, M. F., November 2014

4 Rent imputation for welfare measurement: a review of methodologies and empirical findings
Balcazar Salazar, C. F., Ceriani, L., Olivieri, S., Ranzani, M., November 2014

5 Can agricultural households farm their way out of poverty?
Oseni, G., McGee, K., Dabalen, A., November 2014

6 Durable goods and poverty measurement
Amendola, N., Vecchi, G., November 2014

7 Inequality stagnation in Latin America in the aftermath of the global financial crisis
Cord, L., Barriga Cabanillas, O., Lucchetti, L., Rodriguez‐Castelan, C., Sousa, L. D., Valderrama, D. December
2014

8 Born with a silver spoon: inequality in educational achievement across the world
Balcazar Salazar, C. F., Narayan, A., Tiwari, S., January 2015

Updated on December 2015 by POV GP KL Team | 1
9 Long‐run effects of democracy on income inequality: evidence from repeated cross‐sections
Balcazar Salazar,C. F., January 2015

10 Living on the edge: vulnerability to poverty and public transfers in Mexico
Ortiz‐Juarez, E., Rodriguez‐Castelan, C., De La Fuente, A., January 2015

11 Moldova: a story of upward economic mobility
Davalos, M. E., Meyer, M., January 2015

12 Broken gears: the value added of higher education on teachers' academic achievement
Balcazar Salazar, C. F., Nopo, H., January 2015

13 Can we measure resilience? a proposed method and evidence from countries in the Sahel
Alfani, F., Dabalen, A. L., Fisker, P., Molini, V., January 2015

14 Vulnerability to malnutrition in the West African Sahel
Alfani, F., Dabalen, A. L., Fisker, P., Molini, V., January 2015

15 Economic mobility in Europe and Central Asia: exploring patterns and uncovering puzzles
Cancho, C., Davalos, M. E., Demarchi, G., Meyer, M., Sanchez Paramo, C., January 2015

16 Managing risk with insurance and savings: experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in
the Sahel
Delavallade, C., Dizon, F., Hill, R., Petraud, J. P., el., January 2015

17 Gone with the storm: rainfall shocks and household well‐being in Guatemala
Baez, J. E., Lucchetti, L., Genoni, M. E., Salazar, M., January 2015

18 Handling the weather: insurance, savings, and credit in West Africa
De Nicola, F., February 2015

19 The distributional impact of fiscal policy in South Africa
Inchauste Comboni, M. G., Lustig, N., Maboshe, M., Purfield, C., Woolard, I., March 2015

20 Interviewer effects in subjective survey questions: evidence from Timor‐Leste
Himelein, K., March 2015

21 No condition is permanent: middle class in Nigeria in the last decade
Corral Rodas, P. A., Molini, V., Oseni, G. O., March 2015

22 An evaluation of the 2014 subsidy reforms in Morocco and a simulation of further reforms
Verme, P., El Massnaoui, K., March 2015

Updated on December 2015 by POV GP KL Team | 2
23 The quest for subsidy reforms in Libya
Araar, A., Choueiri, N., Verme, P., March 2015

24 The (non‐) effect of violence on education: evidence from the "war on drugs" in Mexico
Márquez‐Padilla, F., Pérez‐Arce, F., Rodriguez Castelan, C., April 2015

25 “Missing girls” in the south Caucasus countries: trends, possible causes, and policy options
Das Gupta, M., April 2015

26 Measuring inequality from top to bottom
Diaz Bazan, T. V., April 2015

27 Are we confusing poverty with preferences?
Van Den Boom, B., Halsema, A., Molini, V., April 2015

28 Socioeconomic impact of the crisis in north Mali on displaced people (Available in French)
Etang Ndip, A., Hoogeveen, J. G., Lendorfer, J., June 2015

29 Data deprivation: another deprivation to end
Serajuddin, U., Uematsu, H., Wieser, C., Yoshida, N., Dabalen, A., April 2015

30 The local socioeconomic effects of gold mining: evidence from Ghana
Chuhan-Pole, P., Dabalen, A., Kotsadam, A., Sanoh, A., Tolonen, A.K., April 2015

31 Inequality of outcomes and inequality of opportunity in Tanzania
Belghith, N. B. H., Zeufack, A. G., May 2015

32 How unfair is the inequality of wage earnings in Russia? estimates from panel data
Tiwari, S., Lara Ibarra, G., Narayan, A., June 2015

33 Fertility transition in Turkey—who is most at risk of deciding against child arrival?
Greulich, A., Dasre, A., Inan, C., June 2015

34 The socioeconomic impacts of energy reform in Tunisia: a simulation approach
Cuesta Leiva, J. A., El Lahga, A., Lara Ibarra, G., June 2015

35 Energy subsidies reform in Jordan: welfare implications of different scenarios
Atamanov, A., Jellema, J. R., Serajuddin, U., June 2015

36 How costly are labor gender gaps? estimates for the Balkans and Turkey
Cuberes, D., Teignier, M., June 2015

37 Subjective well‐being across the lifespan in Europe and Central Asia
Bauer, J. M., Munoz Boudet, A. M., Levin, V., Nie, P., Sousa‐Poza, A., July 2015

Updated on December 2015 by POV GP KL Team | 3
38 Lower bounds on inequality of opportunity and measurement error
Balcazar Salazar, C. F., July 2015

39 A decade of declining earnings inequality in the Russian Federation
Posadas, J., Calvo, P. A., Lopez‐Calva, L.‐F., August 2015

40 Gender gap in pay in the Russian Federation: twenty years later, still a concern
Atencio, A., Posadas, J., August 2015

41 Job opportunities along the rural‐urban gradation and female labor force participation in India
Chatterjee, U., Rama, M. G., Murgai, R., September 2015

42 Multidimensional poverty in Ethiopia: changes in overlapping deprivations
Yigezu, B., Ambel, A. A., Mehta, P. A., September 2015

43 Are public libraries improving quality of education? when the provision of public goods is not enough
Rodriguez Lesmes, P. A., Valderrama Gonzalez, D., Trujillo, J. D., September 2015

44 Understanding poverty reduction in Sri Lanka: evidence from 2002 to 2012/13
Inchauste Comboni, M. G., Ceriani, L., Olivieri, S. D., October 2015

45 A global count of the extreme poor in 2012: data issues, methodology and initial results
Ferreira, F.H.G., Chen, S., Dabalen, A. L., Dikhanov, Y. M., Hamadeh, N., Jolliffe, D. M., Narayan, A., Prydz,
E. B., Revenga, A. L., Sangraula, P., Serajuddin, U., Yoshida, N., October 2015

46 Exploring the sources of downward bias in measuring inequality of opportunity
Lara Ibarra, G., Martinez Cruz, A. L., October 2015

47 Women’s police stations and domestic violence: evidence from Brazil
Perova, E., Reynolds, S., November 2015

48 From demographic dividend to demographic burden? regional trends of population aging in Russia
Matytsin, M., Moorty, L. M., Richter, K., November 2015

49 Hub‐periphery development pattern and inclusive growth: case study of Guangdong province
Luo, X., Zhu, N., December 2015

50 Unpacking the MPI: a decomposition approach of changes in multidimensional poverty headcounts
Rodriguez Castelan, C., Trujillo, J. D., Pérez Pérez, J. E., Valderrama, D., December 2015

51 The poverty effects of market concentration
Rodriguez Castelan, C., December 2015

52 Can a small social pension promote labor force participation? evidence from the Colombia Mayor
program
Pfutze, T., Rodriguez Castelan, C., December 2015

Updated on December 2015 by POV GP KL Team | 4
53 Why so gloomy? perceptions of economic mobility in Europe and Central Asia
Davalos, M. E., Cancho, C. A., Sanchez, C., December 2015

54 Tenure security premium in informal housing markets: a spatial hedonic analysis
Nakamura, S., December 2015

For the latest and sortable directory,
available on the Poverty & Equity GP intranet site. http://POVERTY

WWW.WORLDBANK.ORG/POVERTY

Updated on December 2015 by POV GP KL Team | 5