Religion and Ethnicity in Developing Labour Markets

This Ph.D. thesis looks at the effects of religion and ethnicity in developing labour markets. The first and second chapter take a step towards understanding the impact of terrorist activities in north-western Pakistan since 2007. The increased insurgency in the north-western regions of Pakistan threatened the educational attainment of young girls and boys, with the Taliban specifically targeting the education of girls. The empirical strategy uses a difference-in-difference-in-difference approach, comparing the differences in education and labour market outcomes across three dimensions, gender, years, and district. I first estimate the gender differential for total school enrolment in the affected districts. Second, estimate the impact on enrolment in religious schools. Last, I look at the gender differential in labour market by age and marital status. The results suggest that the impact of these terrorist attacks was relatively modest and short-lived for both education and labour market outcomes. The third chapter uses the Ghana Living Standards Survey 2005 to empirically analyse the employment outcomes of ethnic minorities in Ghanaian labour market. In the to less-developed regions, the absence of paid work opportunities has resulted in ethnic groups entering self-employment. Non-dominant groups residing in ethnic enclaves are pulled into non-farm self-employment where access to credit and family workers are important determinants of entry into entrepreneurship.