No Early Advantage? The Effects of Preschool Entry-Age Policies on Child Development in Peru

Chris Boyd () and Jose Renteria ()
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Chris Boyd: Department of Economics, Towson University
Jose Renteria: Department of Economics, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

No 2026-05, Working Papers from Towson University, Department of Economics

Abstract: School entry cutoff policies establish the minimum age required to start school at a given date, determining whether a child is in a classroom with younger or older peers, which can affect their development. Existing research, particularly from high-income countries, shows that younger students face disadvantages in several areas, but little is known about the effects in low- and middle-income countries and for preschool children. We leverage the discontinuity created by government-imposed school entry cutoffs to measure the impact of late enrollment on child nutrition and early childhood development outcomes. Using data from Peru’s Demographic and Health Surveys and a fuzzy regression discontinuity design, we show that the laxly enforced preschool entry age policies significantly increase the probability of late enrollment, but on average they do not affect child health or early childhood development. Nonetheless, we find that these insignificant effects hide differ- ential impacts for boys and girls, and poor children.

Keywords: School entry age; Preschool education; Early childhood development; Child health. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 I21 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 106 pages
Date: 2026-03, Revised 2026-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev
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