The impact of bullying on educational performance in Ghana: A Bias-reducing Matching Approach

School bullying is a serious problem in academic settings all over the world. Using data from Ghana through the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study we show that bullying has a negative effect on academic performance. We also find evidence that female students are more affected by bullying. However, our analysis of the data reveals a female teacher in the classroom diminishes the negative effect of bullying on female students. The analysis uses a quasi-experimental propensity score matching and OLS methods followed by a series of robustness tests that validates the unconfoundedness and overlapping assumptions. The results of the study encourage policy makers to introduce gender sensitive anti-bullying program in academic settings