Estimating the production function for human capital: results from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia

Published on 27 April 2017

We examine the channels through which a randomized early childhood intervention in Colombia led to signi cant gains in cognitive and socio-emotional skills among a sample of disadvantaged children aged 12 to 24 months at baseline. We estimate the determinants of material and time investments in these children and evaluate the im- pact of the treatment on such investments. We then estimate the production functions for cognitive and socio-emotional skills. The e ects of the program can be explained by increases in parental investments, which have strong e ects on outcomes and are complementary to both maternal skills and child's baseline skills.

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We examine the channels through which a randomized early childhood intervention in Colombia led to signi cant gains in cognitive and socio-emotional skills among a sample of disadvantaged children aged 12 to 24 months at baseline. We estimate the determinants of material and time investments in these children and evaluate the impact of the treatment on such investments. We then estimate the production functions for cognitive and socio-emotional skills. The e ffects of the program can be explained by increases in parental investments, which have strong e ffects on outcomes and are complementary to both maternal skills and child's baseline skills.

A newer version of this working paper is available here.

    Authors

    Orazio Attanasio

    Emla Fitzsimons
    Emla Fitzsimons

    Research Fellow University College London

    Emla Fitzsimons is a Professor of Economics at the University College London Institute of Education and a Research Fellow at the IFS.

    Costas Meghir
    Costas Meghir

    Research Fellow Yale University

    Costas is a Research Fellow of the IFS and a Professor of Economics at Yale University and a Visiting Professor at University College London.

    Marta Rubio Codina
    Marta Rubio-Codina

    Research Associate

    Marta is a Research Associate, working at the Centre for Evaluation of Development Policies at IFS and at the Inter-American Development.

    Sarah Cattan
    Sarah Cattan

    Research Fellow

    Sarah is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

    Working Paper details

    DOI
    10.1920/WP.IFS.2017.1706
    Publisher
    The IFS

    Suggested citation

    Attanasio, O et al. (2017). Estimating the production function for human capital: results from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia. London: The IFS. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/estimating-production-function-human-capital-results-randomized-controlled-trial (accessed: 20 May 2025).

    Grant

    Research on Microeconometrics: Identification, inference and applications (ROMIA) Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP), 2015-2020

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