In this paper, we measure the contribution of an additional year of schooling on skills acquisition for a cohort of young adults in Madagascar. We estimate a value-added model of learning achievement that includes test scores measured at adolescence, thereby reducing the potential for omitted variable bias. We demonstrate that schooling increases cognitive skills among young adults. The value-added of a year of schooling during adolescence is 0.15 to 0.26 standard deviation. Our results show the skills gap widens in adolescence, as students with higher cognitive skills complete more grades, accumulating more skills in their transition to adulthood.

This report provides a preliminary descriptive analysis of the Madagascar Youth Transition Survey 2012-13 (Enquête Statistique sur les itinéraires de vie des jeunes à Madagascar 2012-13). This survey is the last round of a cohort panel following children from around age 8 (for about half the sample) or age 15 (for the remainder) to their early 20s. The first two surveys were mainly focused on schooling and skills and were complemented by school surveys and by community surveys. This new survey re-interviewed the cohort members and their households and updated the community information. This last round of the survey was designed to improve our understanding of the determinants and impacts of the major life course transitions-involving marriage, family, schooling, and work-of young people in Madagascar. The purpose of this report is to provide the reader with a sense of the scope and nature of the data set and with some information about the lives of young adults in Madagascar. We acknowledge the support of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Agence inter-établissements de recherche pour le développement (AIRD) and the Agence française de développement (AFD), who funded this work as part of the DEMTREND project. The authors remain solely responsible for any errors and omissions.