Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia

Orazio Attanasio, Sarah Cattan (), Emla Fitzsimons (), Costas Meghir and Marta Rubio-Codina ()
Additional contact information
Emla Fitzsimons: University College London
Marta Rubio-Codina: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Marta Rubio Codina ()

No 8856, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We examine the channels through which a randomized early childhood intervention in Colombia led to significant gains in cognitive and socio-emotional 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.

Keywords: poverty alleviation; human capital; early childhood development; nonlinear factor models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I25 I32 J13 J24 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 93 pages
Date: 2015-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-lma and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (66)

Published - published in: American Economic Review, 2020, 110 (1), 48–85

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp8856.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2018)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2018)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2017)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2015)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2015)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2015)
Working Paper: Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Control Trial in Colombia (2015)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8856

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().