| By: |
Orazio Attanasio (University College London, IFS, NBER);
Costas Meghir (Cowles Foundation, Yale University);
Emily Nix (Dept. of Economics, UCL) |
| Abstract: |
We estimate production functions for cognition and health for children aged
1-12 in India, where over 70 million children aged 0-5 are at risk of
developmental deficits. The inputs into the production functions include
parental background, prior child cognition and health, and child investments.
We use income and local prices to control for the endogeneity of investments.
We find that cognition is sensitive to investments throughout the age range we
consider, while health is mainly affected by early investments. We also find
that inputs are complementary, and crucially that health is very important in
determining cognition. Our paper contributes in understanding how investments
and early health outcomes are important in child development. |
| Keywords: |
Early childhood development, Human capital, India, Nonlinear factor models, Young lives survey, Health, Cognition |
| JEL: |
I14 I15 I25 I32 J13 J24 O15 |
| Date: |
2015–12 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2026r&r=neu |