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Maternal Education, Parental Investment and Non-cognitive Characteristics in Rural China

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Abstract

This paper evaluates the parental response to non-cognitive variation across siblings in Gansu province, China, employing a household fixed effects specification. The non-cognitive indices are defined as the inverse of externalizing challenges (behavioral problems) and internalizing challenges (anxiety and withdrawal). The results suggest that there is significant heterogeneity with respect to maternal education; educated mothers compensate for differences between their children, investing more in a child exhibiting greater non-cognitive deficits, while less educated mothers reinforce these differences. Most importantly, there is evidence that these investments lead to the narrowing of non-cognitive deficits over time for children of more educated mothers.

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  • Jessica Leight & Elaine M. Liu, 2016. "Maternal Education, Parental Investment and Non-cognitive Characteristics in Rural China," Department of Economics Working Papers 2016-05, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    • Handle: RePEc:wil:wileco:2016-05
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    Cited by:

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    2. Choi, Jin-young & Lee, Myoung-jae, 2019. "Twins are more different than commonly believed, but made less different by compensating behaviors," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 18-31.
    3. Xu, Hui & Zhang, Zheyuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2023. "Parental socioeconomic status and children’s cognitive ability in China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Wang, Weidong & Dong, Yongqing & Liu, Xiaohong & Bai, Yunli & Zhang, Linxiu, 2020. "The effect of parents’ education on the academic and non-cognitive outcomes of their children: Evidence from China," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. David N. Figlio & Krzysztof Karbownik & Umut Özek, 2023. "Sibling Spillovers May Enhance the Efficacy of Targeted School Policies," NBER Working Papers 31406, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Cui, Ying & Liu, Hong & Zhao, Liqiu, 2019. "Mother's education and child development: Evidence from the compulsory school reform in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 669-692.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    non-cognitive characteristics; parental investment; intrahousehold allocation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation

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