Abstract

This paper investigates the long term impact of early childhood shocks on social and economic outcomes lasting almost 40 years. We exploit variation in childhood circumstances experienced by children and adolescents from Surinam who migrated to the Netherlands in two large waves, induced by political changes in the former Dutch colony. Administrative data allow us to link the age of migration to a large array of adult outcomes. Moreover, we are able to investigate the effects on the children of these migrants, in particular, on their test scores at the age of 12.