| dc.description.abstract | This thesis aims to uncover if communities affected by oil activity have suffered a reduction in
their share of higher educational attainment, compared to other municipalities. Using data on
oil production and investments for the oil field’s main supply bases, together with educational
data on a municipal level, we examine this relationship during the period 1980 – 2016. This is
estimated through a fixed effects model, where we look at the direct, per-unit effect oil activity
has on the share of educational attainment. Secondly, we employ a difference-in-difference
(DID) estimation using a roll-out method, where we look at the permanent effects surrounding
the first introduction of oil activity. To examine the difference-in-difference assumptions, an
event study specification is utilized, at the same time allowing us to observe the yearly effects
surrounding the introduction of oil activity.
Our findings indicate that the relationship between oil production and the share of higher
education for an oil-related municipality is negative between the years of 1998 and 2016 – the
most recent half of our inspected time period. Our results suggest that a 10% increase in oil
production corresponds to a long-term reduction in higher educational attainment of up to 0.038
percentage points. Most of the power behind these results stem from the effects oil production
have on the educational attainment of women. Our estimates show that women experience
effects between 159% – 486% larger than their male counterparts. We also find that of the two
higher educational levels, undergraduate attainment is the most sensitive to a change in oil
production, being subject to reductions twice as large as the attainment of postgraduate degrees.
These results have been proven robust to changes in how we define the treatment and control
groups. | nb_NO |
