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Parental Investments and Intra-household Inequality in Child Human Capital: Evidence from a Survey Experiment

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  • Michele Giannola

Abstract

Intra-household inequality explains 40% of child human capital variation in the developing world. I study how parents’ investment contributes to this inequality. To mitigate the identification problem posed by observational data, I design a survey experiment with parents in India that allows me to identify beliefs about the human capital production function, preferences for inequality in outcomes and the role of resources. I find that investments are driven by efficiency considerations: as parents perceive investment and ability as complements, they invest more in higher-achieving children and more so when constrained. Simulations indicate that interventions have intra-household distributional impacts through parental responses.

Suggested Citation

  • Michele Giannola, 2024. "Parental Investments and Intra-household Inequality in Child Human Capital: Evidence from a Survey Experiment," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(658), pages 671-727.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:134:y:2024:i:658:p:671-727.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/uead086
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    Cited by:

    1. Gabriella Conti & Michele Giannola & Alessandro Toppeta, 2024. "Parental beliefs, perceived health risks, and time investment in children," IFS Working Papers W24/15, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Bousselin, Audrey & Brocas, Isabelle & Menta, Giorgia & Proto, Eugenio, 2026. "The Accuracy and Malleability of Parental Beliefs about Child Socio-Emotional Health," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 795, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Derek Rury & Ariel Kalil, 2026. "Interpreting Performance: Evidence on Signal Weighting in Human Capital Investment," Working Papers 2026-20, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    4. Harris-Fry, Helen & Cortina-Borja, Mario, 2025. "Health, wealth, or equity? Trade-offs from households’ allocative decisions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).

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