Giving Children a Better Start: Preschool Attendance and School-Age Profiles

39 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Samuel Berlinski

Samuel Berlinski

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) - Research Department

Sebastian Galiani

University of Maryland - Department of Economics

Marco Manacorda

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP); Queen Mary, University of London; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Date Written: June 1, 2007

Abstract

The authors study the effect of pre-primary education on children's subsequent school outcomes by exploiting a unique feature of the Uruguayan household survey (ECH) that collects retrospective information on preschool attendance in the context of a rapid expansion in the supply of pre-primary places. Using a within household estimator, they find small gains from preschool attendance at early ages that magnify as children grow up. By age 15, treated children have accumulated 0.8 extra years of education and are 27 percentage points more likely to be in school compared with their untreated siblings. Instrumental variables estimates that control for nonrandom selection of siblings into preschool lead to similar results. The authors speculate that early grade repetition harms subsequent school progression and that pre-primary education appears as a successful policy option to prevent early grade failure and its long lasting consequences.

Keywords: Primary Education, Education For All, Youth and Governance, Early Childhood Development, Educational Sciences

Suggested Citation

Berlinski, Samuel and Galiani, Sebastian and Manacorda, Marco and Manacorda, Marco, Giving Children a Better Start: Preschool Attendance and School-Age Profiles (June 1, 2007). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4240, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=991432

Samuel Berlinski (Contact Author)

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) - Research Department ( email )

1300 New York Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20577
United States

Sebastian Galiani

University of Maryland - Department of Economics ( email )

College Park, MD 20742
United States

Marco Manacorda

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Queen Mary, University of London

Mile End Road
London, London E1 4NS
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom