Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP12756
Authors: Daniela Del Boca; Chiara Monfardini; Sarah See
Abstract: Using data from OECD’s PISA, Eurostat and World Bank’s WDI, we explore how child cognitive outcomes at the aggregate country level are related to macroeconomic conditions, specifically government education expenditures and early education experience. We find that both government expenditures in educationand attendance to early child care are associated with better later school performance. We also consider different childcare characteristics such as duration and quality, which appear to have significant effects Our results may imply that policies encouraging childcare expansion should also take into account quality issues.
Keywords: Early childcare; Education; School performance; Test scores
JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Higher government expenditures in early education (H52) | Improved student performance at age 15 (D29) |
| Increased attendance in early childhood education (I21) | Improved student performance at age 15 (D29) |
| Lower pupil-teacher ratio (I21) | Better performance (D29) |
| Attendance of up to one year of preprimary education (A21) | Significant benefits in cognitive outcomes (I25) |
| Government investments in early education (H52) | Stronger impact on cognitive outcomes than investments made during adolescence or adulthood (I21) |