Determinants of Cognitive Development in Deprived Environments: Evidence from the West Bank

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hendrik Jürges
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: from 2012 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 203125489

The overarching objective of this interdisciplinary project is to identify the causal effects of schooling, malnutrition, bad health, and trauma on the cognitive development and learning productivity among children within the Palestinian population of the West Bank. Our project brings together Israeli, Palestinian and German scientists with complementary expertise in cognitive psychology, public health, and education and health economics. Fig. 1 shows a graphical representation of the conceptual framework we use to derive hypotheses that are subsequently analyzed using the cognitive test and interview data collected from approximately 6,000 Palestinian students in grades 5 to 9 and their families as well as school principals during the first phase of this project. Specific research questions will be explicated in the work program section. The partners in this project share wide experience in international and interdisciplinary collaboration. Ziad Abdeen, Director of the AQ Nutrition and Health Research Institute, will provide expertise in studying malnutrition, maltreatment, stress disorders and health among children and adolescents in the West Bank. Sorel Cahan, Associate Professor of Educational and Psychological Measurement at HU, is an expert in educational and psychological measurement and schooling effects on cognitive development Hendrik Jürges, Professor of Health Economics and Management at the University of Wuppertal (UW), has worked extensively on the causal link between education and health and provides expertise in the identification of causal effects from observational data using state-of-the-art econometric techniques.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Israel, Palestine
• International Co-Applicants: Professor Dr. Ziad A. Abdeen; Professor Sorel Cahan, Ph.D.