How is adolescents' time allocation associated with their self-esteem and self-efficacy? Evidence from four developing countries

Grace Chang

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Adolescents’ time allocation is an important determinant of non-cognitive skills formation, but evidence from developing countries is limited. This study builds upon two previous studies using data from four developing countries. I estimate how adolescents’ time allocation determines their self-esteem and self-efficacy – two measures of non-cognitive skills – and I show how these estimates are sensitive to trade-offs across different types of activities. In every country, an additional hour of domestic work that reduces time for school or study reduces children’s self-efficacy, significant for all countries except Peru. Work is most harmful for girls in India and Vietnam, but not for boys in Ethiopia. However, domestic or economic work that shifts time away from leisure is no more or less determinative of adolescents’ self-efficacy or self-esteem in all countries analyzed. Attending school and studying outside school improve both selfefficacy and self-esteem for adolescents in Peru, but are statistically insignificant in the other three countries. Overall, these findings are mainly relevant for selfefficacy compared to self-esteem. The harmful effects of adolescents’ work are contextual, depending on the activity substituted, and the country studied.

Keywords: child labor; non-cognitive skills; time use; PhD Studentship Award (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-05-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-neu and nep-sea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in The Journal of Development Studies, 24, May, 2022. ISSN: 0022-0388

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:115059

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