The effect of social programs and exposure to professionals on the educational aspirations of the poor |
| |
| Authors: | Carlos Chiapa José Luis Garrido Silvia Prina |
| |
| Institution: | 1. Centro de Estudios Económicos, El Colegio de México, Camino al Ajusco 20, Pedregal de Santa Teresa, Mexico City 10740, Mexico;2. Escuela Superior de Economía, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Plan de Agua Prieta 66, Plutarco Elías Calles, Mexico City 11340, Mexico;3. Department of Economics, Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead School of Management, 11119 Bellflower Road, Room 273, Cleveland, OH 44106, United States |
| |
| Abstract: | Investment in human capital is an important tool for reducing poverty. However, the poor may lack the capacity to aspire, which often results in underinvestment in their children's education. This paper studies the effect of a social program on the educational aspirations poor parents have for their children, and explores the role of exposure to educated professionals as a possible channel for increasing these aspirations. First, using differences-in-differences, we show that the Mexican antipoverty program PROGRESA raises the educational aspirations of beneficiary parents for their children of a third of a school year. Then, exploiting PROGRESA's mandated differential exposure to professionals, using triple differences, we find evidence suggesting that educational aspirations for children from high-exposure households are almost half of a school year higher six months after the start of the program. Finally, we show that there is a positive correlation between parental aspirations and children's educational attainment. |
| |
| Keywords: | I38 J24 O12 |
| 本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录！ |
|
