Early Childhood Human Capital Formation at Scale

Johannes Bos (), Akib Khan (), Saravana Ravindran () and Abu Shonchoy
Additional contact information
Johannes Bos: American Institutes for Research, USA
Akib Khan: Uppsala University, Sweden
Saravana Ravindran: Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

No 2115, Working Papers from Florida International University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Can governments leverage existing service-delivery platforms to scale early childhood development (ECD) programs? We experimentally study a large-scale home-visiting intervention providing materials and counseling -integrated into Bangladesh's national nutrition program without extra financial incentives for the service providers (SPs). We find SPs partially substituted away from nutritional to ECD counseling. Intent-to-treat estimates show the program improved child's cognitive (0.17 SD), language (0.23 SD), and socio-emotional developments (0.12-0.14 SD). Wasting and underweight rates also declined. Improved maternal agency, complementary parental investments, and higher take-up of the pre-existing nutrition program were important mechanisms. We estimate a sizeable internal rate-of-return of 19.6%.

Keywords: Early childhood development; Human capital formation; Bangladesh (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 I25 J13 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2021-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-isf, nep-neu, nep-sea and nep-ure
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https://economics.fiu.edu/research/pdfs/2021_working_papers/21151.pdf First version, 2021 (application/pdf)

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Journal Article: Early childhood human capital formation at scale (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fiu:wpaper:2115

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