Windows of Opportunity in Early Childhood: A Dynamic Model of Multidimensional Development

Orazio Attanasio, Raquel Bernal, Michele Giannola and Milagros Nores

No 35818, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Using child development data collected during the evaluation of an early childhood education program, this paper estimates a dynamic model of human development from ages 1 to 6. We model three latent factors—health, cognitive skills, and socio-emotional skills—and allow them to interact with each other and with multiple inputs to shape subsequent development. The richness and high-frequency nature of the data permit a flexible specification that (i) allows for complex dynamics, (ii) lets each factor con- tribute to the production of the others, (iii) permits age-varying production technologies, and (iv) treats parental investment as endogenous. We use the estimated model to identify “windows of opportunity” in which parental interventions, or programs that increase investment, are especially effective. Results indicate that developmental dynamics are richer than typically assumed, with important implications for persistence: the impact of inputs can decay or endure in ways that vary across domains and over age. Accounting for endogenous investment is consequential for inference.

JEL-codes: I15 I25 I32 J13 J24 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma, nep-ltv and nep-neu
Note: DEV ED
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