Search Results

Title: Human Capital Development Before Age Five
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Almond, Douglas
Currie, Janet
Human Capital Development Before Age Five
NBER Working Paper No 15827, National bureau for Economic Research, March 2010
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Keyword(s): Childhood Education, Early; Children, Preschool; Head Start; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Overview, Child Assessment Data

This chapter seeks to set out what Economists have learned about the effects of early childhood influences on later life outcomes, and about ameliorating the effects of negative influences. We begin with a brief overview of the theory which illustrates that evidence of a causal relationship between a shock in early childhood and a future outcome says little about whether the relationship in question biological or immutable. We then survey recent work which shows that events before five years old can have large long term impacts on adult outcomes. Child and family characteristics measured at school entry do as much to explain future outcomes as factors that labor economists have more traditionally focused on, such as years of education. Yet while children can be permanently damaged at this age, an important message is that the damage can often be remediated. We provide a brief overview of evidence regarding the effectiveness of different types of policies to provide remediation. We conclude with a list of some of (the many) outstanding questions for future research.
Bibliography Citation
Almond, Douglas and Janet Currie. "Human Capital Development Before Age Five." NBER Working Paper No 15827, National bureau for Economic Research, March 2010.