The Impact of Childhood Social Skills and Self-Control Training on Economic and Noneconomic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment Using Administrative Data

Yann Algan, Elizabeth Beasley (), Sylvana Côté, Jungwee Park, Richard Tremblay and Frank Vitaro
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Elizabeth Beasley: CEPREMAP - Centre pour la recherche économique et ses applications - ECO ENS-PSL - Département d'économie de l'ENS-PSL - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres
Sylvana Côté: UdeM - Université de Montréal
Jungwee Park: Statistics Canada
Richard Tremblay: UCD - University College Dublin [Dublin], UdeM - Université de Montréal
Frank Vitaro: UdeM - Université de Montréal

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Abstract: A childhood intervention to improve the social skills and self-control of at-risk kindergarten boys in the 1980s had positive impacts over the life course: higher trust and self-control as adolescents; increased social group membership, education, and reduced criminality as young adults; and increased marriage and employment as adults. Using administrative data, we find this intervention increased average yearly employment income by about 20 percent and decreased average yearly social transfers by almost 40 percent. We estimate that $1 invested in this program around age 8 yields about $11 in benefits by age 39, with an internal rate of return of around 17 percent.

Date: 2022-08-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-03887405v1
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Published in American Economic Review, 2022, 112 (8), pp.2553-2579. ⟨10.1257/aer.20200224⟩

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Journal Article: The Impact of Childhood Social Skills and Self-Control Training on Economic and Noneconomic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment Using Administrative Data (2022)
Working Paper: The Impact of Childhood Social Skills and Self-Control Training on Economic and Noneconomic Outcomes: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment Using Administrative Data (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-03887405

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20200224

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