The Inter-Generational Transmission of Cognitive Abilities in Guatemala

María Calderón and John Hoddinott

No 4722, Research Department Publications from Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department

Abstract: This paper examines early childhood development (ECD) outcomes and their association with family characteristics, investments, and environmental factors, with particular emphasis on the inter-generational transmission of cognitive abilities. The paper examines the causal relationship between parental cognitive abilities and ECD outcomes of their offspring using a rich data set from rural Guatemala that can account for such unobservable factors. A 10 percent increase in maternal Raven’s scores increase children’s Raven’s scores by 7. 8 percent. A 10 percent increase in maternal reading and vocabulary skills increases children’s score on a standard vocabulary test by 5 percent. Effects are larger for older children, and the impact of maternal cognitive skills is larger than for paternal skills.

JEL-codes: J12 J24 N36 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Working Paper: The Inter-Generational Transmission of Cognitive Abilities in Guatemala (2011)
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