Human Capital Development and Parental Investment in India

72 Pages Posted: 1 Dec 2015

See all articles by Orazio Attanasio

Orazio Attanasio

Dept of Economics Yale University; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); University College London - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Costas Meghir

Yale University; Yale University - Cowles Foundation; Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS); National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Emily Nix

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business - Finance and Business Economics Department

Multiple version iconThere are 6 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 12, 2015

Abstract

In this paper we estimate production functions for cognition and health throughout four stages of childhood from 5-15 years of age using two cohorts of children drawn from the Young Lives Survey for India. The inputs into the production function include parental background, prior child cognition and health and child investments. We allow investments to be endogenous and they depend on local prices and household income, as well as on the exogenous determinants of cognition and health. We find that investments are very important determinants of child cognition and of health at an earlier age. We also find that inputs are complementary and crucially that health is very important in determining cognition. Our paper contributes in understanding how early health outcomes are important in child development.

Keywords: Human Capital, Child Development, India, Intergenerational Transmission

JEL Classification: I14, I15, I25, I32, J13, J24, O15

Suggested Citation

Attanasio, Orazio and Meghir, Costas and Nix, Emily, Human Capital Development and Parental Investment in India (November 12, 2015). Yale University Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper No. 1052, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2697123 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2697123

Orazio Attanasio (Contact Author)

Dept of Economics Yale University ( email )

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Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)

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University College London - Department of Economics ( email )

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Costas Meghir

Yale University ( email )

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Yale University - Cowles Foundation ( email )

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Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) ( email )

7 Ridgmount Street
London, WC1E 7AE
United Kingdom

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

Emily Nix

University of Southern California - Marshall School of Business - Finance and Business Economics Department ( email )

Marshall School of Business
Los Angeles, CA 90089
United States

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