Education-oriented and care-oriented preschools: Implications on child development

Hideo Akabayashi, Tim Ruberg, Chizuru Shikishima and Jun Yamashita

Labour Economics, 2023, vol. 84, issue C

Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effect of education-oriented vs. care-oriented preschools on child development. We use a unique quasi-experiment from Japan that exploits plausibly exogenous regional and temporal variation in the relative availability of different preschools. We find that attendance at an education-oriented preschool is associated with significant improvements in mathematical and linguistic achievement that manifest later in adolescence. Positive effects can also be found for socioemotional measures. Ascending marginal treatment effect (MTE) curves suggest an inverse selection pattern: children that are least likely to enroll in the education-oriented preschool gain the most from it. This heterogeneity is mainly due to specific features of education-oriented preschools (i.e., educational orientation, the interaction with parents due to shorter operating hours, and peer effects), while gains from enrollment in care-oriented preschools appear more homogeneous.

Keywords: Early childhood education and care; Child development; IV Methods; Marginal treatment effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C26 H75 I26 J13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: Education-Oriented and Care-Oriented Preschools:Implications on Child Development (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:84:y:2023:i:c:s0927537123000854

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2023.102410

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