Impact of An Infrastructure Failure on Cognitive Performance, 2023

Abstract: Natural and human-made disasters can have far-reaching impacts on health and human capital for affected individuals. The 2007 collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, led to a substantial disruption of the learning environment for students in affected communities. The collapse resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries; notably, a school bus carrying 63 students was on the bridge during the collapse, and traffic patterns were disrupted for a year. Using a two-way fixed effects and synthetic difference-in-differences approach, I find that the bridge collapse leads to lower standardized test scores for affected schools relative to similar unaffected schools. Furthermore, I provide evidence that improvements in air quality due to reduced traffic do not outweigh the trauma-induced psychological stress impacts of the disaster.