Reducing Inequality through Dynamic Complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and Public School Spending

Rucker C. Johnson and C. Kirabo Jackson ()

American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 310-49

Abstract: We compare the adult outcomes of cohorts who were differentially exposed to policy-induced changes in Head Start and K–12 spending, depending on place and year of birth. IV and sibling-difference estimates indicate that, for poor children, these policies both increased educational attainment and earnings, and reduced poverty and incarceration. The benefits of Head Start were larger when followed by access to better-funded schools, and increases in K–12 spending were more efficacious when preceded by Head Start exposure. The findings suggest dynamic complementarities, implying that early educational investments that are sustained may break the cycle of poverty.

JEL-codes: H52 H75 I21 I26 I28 I32 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.20180510
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (46)

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Working Paper: Reducing Inequality Through Dynamic Complementarity: Evidence from Head Start and Public School Spending (2017)
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