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How the Allocation of Children�s Time Affects Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Development

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Abstract

The allocation of children�s time among different activities may be important for their cognitive and non-cognitive development. In our work we exploit time use diaries from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to study the effect of time allocation across a wide range of alternative activities. By doing so we characterize the trade-off between the activities to which a child is exposed. On the one hand, our results suggest that time spent in educational activities, particularly with parents, is the most productive input for cognitive skill development. On the other hand, non-cognitive skills appear insensitive to alternative time allocations. Instead, these skills are greatly affected by the mother�s parenting style.

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  • Mario Fiorini & Michael P. Keane, 2013. "How the Allocation of Children�s Time Affects Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Development," Working Paper Series 4, Economics Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney.
  • Handle: RePEc:uts:ecowps:4
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    Cited by:

    1. Dionissi Aliprantis, 2014. "When Should Children Start School?," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 481-536.
    2. Kalb, Guyonne & van Ours, Jan C., 2014. "Reading to young children: A head-start in life?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 1-24.
    3. La Ferrara, Eliana & DellaVigna, Stefano, 2015. "Economic and Social Impacts of the Media," CEPR Discussion Papers 10667, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Emilia Del Bono & Marco Francesconi & Yvonne Kelly & Amanda Sacker, 2016. "Early Maternal Time Investment and Early Child Outcomes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(596), pages 96-135, October.
    5. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Cheti Nicoletti, 2012. "Self investments of adolescents and their cognitive development," Discussion Papers 12/24, Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Peter Frauke H. & Spiess C. Katharina, 2016. "Family Instability and Locus of Control in Adolescence," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1439-1471, September.
    7. repec:esx:essedp:756 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Conti, Gabriella & Frühwirth-Schnatter, Sylvia & Heckman, James J. & Piatek, Rémi, 2014. "Bayesian exploratory factor analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 183(1), pages 31-57.
    9. Gong, Jie & Lu, Yi & Xie, Huihua, 2020. "The average and distributional effects of teenage adversity on long-term health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    10. Holford, Angus, 2015. "Youth employment and academic performance: production functions and policy effects," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-06, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    11. Dionissi Aliprantis, 2012. "When should children start school?," Working Papers (Old Series) 1126, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    12. Peter Funk & Thorsten Kemper, 2016. "Leisure and Learning - Activities and Their Effects on Child Skill Development," Working Paper Series in Economics 85, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    13. Agne Suziedelyte, 2012. "Can video games affect children's cognitive and non-cognitive skills?," Discussion Papers 2012-37, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    14. Abhijeet Singh, 2014. "Emergence and evolution of learning gaps across countries: Linked panel evidence from Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam," CSAE Working Paper Series 2014-28, Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford.

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