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Quality and Cost in Early Childhood Education

Author

Listed:
  • Irene Powell
  • James Cosgrove

Abstract

This paper uses a unique survey of 205 child care centers conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office to estimate flexible-form cost functions for child care. Our model allows us to estimate the tradeoff between cost and such quality factors as the child/staff ratio, child group size, and staff characteristics. The coefficient on the child/staff ratio indicates that decreasing the average child/staff ratio from, for instance, an 11 to 1 ratio to a 10 to 1 ratio, would lead to an increase in costs of roughly 3.4 percent. Staff turnover, education, and experience also had statistically significant effects on cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Irene Powell & James Cosgrove, 1992. "Quality and Cost in Early Childhood Education," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 27(3), pages 472-484.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:27:y:1992:i:3:p:472-484
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Blau, David & Currie, Janet, 2006. "Pre-School, Day Care, and After-School Care: Who's Minding the Kids?," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 20, pages 1163-1278, Elsevier.
    2. Robert Fenge & Wolfgang Ochel, 2001. "Reconciling family and occupation: the key to encouraging people to have more children," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 54(12), pages 17-29, November.
    3. Mocan, H Naci, 1995. "Quality-Adjusted Cost Functions for Child-Care Centers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 409-413, May.
    4. David M. Blau & H. Naci Mocan, 2002. "The Supply Of Quality In Child Care Centers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(3), pages 483-496, August.
    5. Joëlle Noailly & Sabine Visser & Paul Grout, 2007. "The impact of market forces on the provision of childcare: Insights from the 2005 Childcare Act in the Netherlands," CPB Memorandum 176, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    6. Ollinger, Michael & Ralston, Katherine L. & Guthrie, Joanne F., 2011. "School Breakfast and Lunch Costs: Are There Economies of Scale?," 2011 Annual Meeting, July 24-26, 2011, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 103191, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Cho, Yoonyoung, 2008. "An Evaluation of A Pronatal Subsidy Program in Korea: A Quasi-Experimental Approach," MPRA Paper 25958, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Luigi Brighi & Paolo Silvestri, 2016. "Inefficiency in Childcare Production. Evidence from Italian Microdata," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 117, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    9. Luigi Brighi & Paolo Silvestri, 2016. "Inefficiency in Childcare Production.Evidence from Italian Microdata," Department of Economics 0079, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    10. Luigi Brighi & Paolo Silvestri, 2016. "Inefficiency in Childcare Production.Evidence from Italian Microdata," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0135, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    11. Luigi Brighi & Paolo Silvestri, 2019. "Inefficiency in Childcare Production: Evidence from Italian Microdata," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 5(1), pages 103-133, March.
    12. Bönisch Peter & Tagge Sven, 2012. "The Optimal Size of German Child Care Centers and the Impact of Regulation: Estimating the Cost Function of a Regulated Multi-Product Firm," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 232(5), pages 545-566, October.

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