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Maternal Investments in Children: The Role of Expected Effort and Returns

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  • Bhalotra, Sonia R.

    (University of Warwick)

  • Delavande, Adeline

    (University of Technology, Sydney)

  • Gilabert, Paulino Font

    (University of Essex)

  • Maselko, Joanna

    (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Abstract

We investigate the importance of subjective expectations of returns to and effort costs of the two main investments that mothers make in newborns: breastfeeding and stimulation. We find heterogeneity across mothers in expected effort costs and expected returns for outcomes in the cognitive, socio-emotional and health domains, and we show that this contributes to explaining heterogeneity in investments. We find no significant heterogeneity in preferences for child developmental outcomes. We simulate the impact of various policies on investments. Our findings highlight the relevance of interventions designed to reduce perinatal fatigue alongside interventions that increase perceived returns to investments.

Suggested Citation

  • Bhalotra, Sonia R. & Delavande, Adeline & Gilabert, Paulino Font & Maselko, Joanna, 2020. "Maternal Investments in Children: The Role of Expected Effort and Returns," IZA Discussion Papers 13056, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp13056
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    Cited by:

    1. Biroli, Pietro & Boneva, Teodora & Raja, Akash & Rauh, Christopher, 2022. "Parental beliefs about returns to child health investments," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 33-57.
    2. Kiessling, Lukas, 2021. "How do parents perceive the returns to parenting styles and neighborhoods?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    3. Michele Giannola, 2022. "Parental Investments and Intra-household Inequality in Child Human Capital: Evidence from a Survey Experiment," CSEF Working Papers 650, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 06 Dec 2022.
    4. Flavio Cunha & Irma Elo & Jennifer Culhane, 2021. "Maternal Subjective Expectations about the Technology of Skill Formation Predict Investments in Children One Year Later," Working Papers 2021-018, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. John List & Julie Pernaudet & Dana Suskind, 2021. "It All Starts with Beliefs: Addressing the Roots of Educational Inequities by Changing Parental Beliefs," Framed Field Experiments 00740, The Field Experiments Website.
    6. Siddique, Abu & Islam, Asad & Mozumder, Tanvir Ahmed & Rahman, Tabassum & Shatil, Tanvir, 2022. "Forced Displacement, Mental Health, and Child Development: Evidence from the Rohingya Refugees," SocArXiv b4fc7, Center for Open Science.
    7. Wang, Haining & Cheng, Zhiming & Smyth, Russell, 2022. "Parental misbeliefs and household investment in children's education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    8. Conti, G.; & Giustinelli, P.;, 2022. "For Better or Worse? Subjective Expectations and Cost-Benefit Trade-Offs in Health Behavior: An Application to Lockdown Compliance in the United Kingdom," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 22/14, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Flavio Cunha & Marsha Gerdes & Qinyou Hu & Snejana Nihtianova, 2023. "Language Environment and Maternal Expectations: An Evaluation of the LENA Start Program," NBER Working Papers 30837, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Gabriella Conti & Pamela Giustinelli, 2023. "For better or worse? Subjective expectations and cost-benefit trade-offs in health behavior," IFS Working Papers W23/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    11. Cunha, Flávio & Elo, Irma & Culhane, Jennifer, 2022. "Maternal subjective expectations about the technology of skill formation predict investments in children one year later," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 231(1), pages 3-32.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    effort costs; subjective expectations; maternal investment; child development; early life; beliefs; maternal depression; psychic costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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