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Artisanal small-scale mining: a poisoned golden ticket for women's empowerment? A differences-in-differences approach in Burkina Faso

(2022)

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Heymans_06852001_2022.pdf
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Abstract
In the 2000s, gold price rose sharply, leading to higher profitability and a boom in gold extraction. As a result, gold mining activity acts as a new economic opportunity for rural households in Burkina Faso. This master thesis aims to study the impact of artisanal and small-scale mining on intra-household dynamics and, more specifically, on women's empowerment. With representative samples of the population of Burkina Faso and a map of the gold mines, I rely on a differences-in-differences estimation comparing the individuals’ geographical exposures to mining sites before and after the gold boom. Due to unequal access to this new economic opportunity, the results suggest that women lose out in terms of their independence, are more exposed to violence, and are more likely to be underweight.