The long-run human capital benefits of the one-village-one-preschool pilot in rural northwestern China

Since its inception in 2009, the One Village One Preschool (OVOP) initiative has emerged as one of China’s most extensive social experiments in rural early childhood education (ECE), distinguished by stringent teacher entry standards and sustained professional development. Utilizing variations in OVOP’s access cross villages and cohorts, we find that high-school-aged students exposed to OVOP have gained human capital benefits. Specifically, an additional one-year of OVOP exposure generates a 4.6 percentage point (pp) increase in the likelihood of attending selective senior high schools and a 3.8 pp reduction in the probability of grade retention. Further examination suggests that the quality of OVOP centers, particularly teacher qualifications, plays a crucial role in generating these benefits. Moreover, the program’s impact is mediated through boosting preschool skill development and subsequent academic performance in compulsory education. Notably, students from upper-middle ability distribution derive more substantial benefits from OVOP exposure. Finally, a preliminary benefit-cost analysis indicates a return of at least 4.1:1 on OVOP investments, with the marginal value of public funds spanning from 6.2 to infinity. These findings underscore the efficacy of OVOP as a scalable model for enhancing educational equity and human capital development in rural China.