Estimating the production function for human capital: results from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractWe examine the channels through which a randomized early childhood intervention in Colombia led to significant gains in cognitive and socioemotional skills among a sample of disadvantaged children. We estimate production functions for cognitive and socio-emotional skills as a function of maternal skills and child's past skills, as well as material and time investments that are treated as endogenous. The effects of the program can be fully explained by increases in parental investments, which have strong effects on outcomes and are complementary to both maternal skills and child's past skills.

Understanding and misunderstanding randomized controlled trials

“…(Early examples include Moffitt (1979) on labor supply and Wise (1985) on housing; a more recent example is Heckman et al (2013) for the Perry pre-school program. Development economics examples include Attanasio et al (2012), Attanasio et al (2015), Todd and Wolpin (2006), Wolpin (2013), and Duflo et al (2012).) These structural models sometimes require formidable auxiliary assumptions on functional forms or the distributions of unobservables, but they have compensating advantages, including the ability to integrate theory and evidence, to make out-of-sample predictions, and to analyze welfare, and the use of RCT evidence allows the relaxation of at least some of the assumptions that are needed for identification.…”

Maternal Depression, Women’s Empowerment, and Parental Investment: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…One is that, although additional time and money investments were made by mothers in the treated group, these changes induced by the intervention were not effective at promoting child development. For instance, time spent together may not have included sufficient stimulation (Attanasio et al 2020), or monetary investments including learning materials may not have been age-appropriate. 18 A second explanation is the lack of statistical power.…”

“…approach. Attanasio et al (2020) finds cognitive impacts of an intervention in Colombia that was designed to stimulate children and its estimates suggest that the parenting intervention was key.…”

Understanding and Misunderstanding Randomized Controlled Trials

“…Early examples include Moffitt (1979) on labor supply and Wise (1985) on housing; a more recent example is Heckman, Pinto and Savelyev (2013) for the Perry pre-school program. Development economics examples include Attanasio, Meghir, and Santiago (2012), Attanasio et al (2015), Todd and Wolpin (2006), Wolpin (2013), and Duflo, Hanna, and Ryan (2012). These structural models sometimes require formidable auxiliary assumptions on functional forms or the distributions of unobservables, but they have compensating advantages, including the ability to integrate theory and evidence, to make out-of-sam-…”