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Giving Children a Better Start: Preschool Attendance & School-Age Profiles

Author

Listed:
  • Sam Berlinksi
  • Sebastian Galiani
  • Marco Manacorda

Abstract

We study the effect of pre-primary education on children's subsequent school outcomes by exploiting a unique feature of the Uruguayan household survey (ECH) that collects retrospective information on preschool attendance in the context of a rapid expansion in the supply of preprimary places. Using a within household estimator, we find small gains from preschool attendance at early ages that magnify as children grow up. By age 15, treated children have accumulated 0.8 extra years of education and are 27 percentage points more likely to be in school compared to their untreated siblings. Instrumental variables estimates that control for non random selection of siblings into pre-school lead to similar results. We speculate that early grade repetition harms subsequent school progression and that pre-primary education appears as a successful policy option to prevent early grade failure and its long lasting consequences.

Suggested Citation

  • Sam Berlinksi & Sebastian Galiani & Marco Manacorda, 2007. "Giving Children a Better Start: Preschool Attendance & School-Age Profiles," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series wp860, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    • Handle: RePEc:wdi:papers:2007-860
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    10. Berlinski, Samuel & Galiani, Sebastian & Gertler, Paul, 2009. "The effect of pre-primary education on primary school performance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 219-234, February.
    11. 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.
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    Cited by:

    1. Karen Macours & Norbert Schady & Renos Vakis, 2012. "Cash Transfers, Behavioral Changes, and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 247-273, April.
    2. Vegas, Emiliana & Santibáñez, Lucrecia, 2010. "The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 362, March.
    3. Cid, Alejandro, 2007. "Educational Gap and Family Structure in Uruguay," MPRA Paper 39911, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Arlette F. Beltrán & Janice N. Seinfeld, 2011. "Hacia una educación de calidad en el Perú : el heterogéneo impacto de la educación inicial sobre el rendimiento escolar," Working Papers 11-06, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico.
    5. Renato Aguilar & Ruben Tansini, 2010. "Análisis Conjunto de la Asistencia a Preescolar y de su Impacto en el Rendimiento Escolar en el Corto y el Largo Plazo," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 3110, Department of Economics - dECON.
    6. Emiliana Vegas & Lucrecia Santibáñez, 2010. "The Promise of Early Childhood Development in Latin America and the Caribbean," World Bank Publications, The World Bank, number 9385, September.
    7. Johan Sandberg, 2012. "Conditional Cash Transfers and Social Mobility: The Role of Asymmetric Structures and Segmentation Processes," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(6), pages 1337-1359, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Preschool; Pre-primary education; Primary school performance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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