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The Right Timing Matters: Sensitive Periods in the Formation of Socio-Emotional Skills

Author

Listed:
  • Laura Breitkopf

    (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn)

  • Shyamal Chowdhury

    (Australian National University)

  • Daniel A. Kamhöfer

    (University of Kaiserslautern-Landau)

  • Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch

    (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn)

  • Matthias Sutter

    (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn)

Abstract

Identifying sensitive periods in which the returns to investments into skills are especially high is challenging, but crucial for an effective and efficient timing of parental or public investments aimed at fostering children’s skills. We can detect sensitive periods with a novel design by implementing the same investment in different school grades and examining grade-specific treatment effects. Based on a randomized controlled trial with more than 3,200 Bangladeshi children in grades 2 to 5, we find sensitive periods in the formation of self-control and patience in grade 2 (age 7–8), while prosociality remains similarly malleable throughout grades 2 to 5 (age 7–11).

Suggested Citation

  • Laura Breitkopf & Shyamal Chowdhury & Daniel A. Kamhöfer & Hannah Schildberg-Hörisch & Matthias Sutter, 2025. "The Right Timing Matters: Sensitive Periods in the Formation of Socio-Emotional Skills," Discussion Paper Series of the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods 2025_09, Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods.
    • Handle: RePEc:mpg:wpaper:2025_09
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Sensitive periods; skill formation; randomized controlled trial; self-control; patience; prosociality; social and emotional learning program; experiments with children; Bangladesh;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D64 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Altruism; Philanthropy; Intergenerational Transfers
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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