The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor

Carlos Chiapa (), José Luis Garrido and Silvia Prina

Economics of Education Review, 2012, vol. 31, issue 5, 778-798

Abstract: Investment in human capital is an important tool for reducing poverty. However, the poor may lack the capacity to aspire, which often results in underinvestment in their children's education. This paper studies the effect of a social program on the educational aspirations poor parents have for their children, and explores the role of exposure to educated professionals as a possible channel for increasing these aspirations. First, using differences-in-differences, we show that the Mexican antipoverty program PROGRESA raises the educational aspirations of beneficiary parents for their children of a third of a school year. Then, exploiting PROGRESA's mandated differential exposure to professionals, using triple differences, we find evidence suggesting that educational aspirations for children from high-exposure households are almost half of a school year higher six months after the start of the program. Finally, we show that there is a positive correlation between parental aspirations and children's educational attainment.

Keywords: Economic development; Educational economics; Human capital; State and federal aid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J24 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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Working Paper: The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:5:p:778-798

DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.05.006

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