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Wealth gradients in early childhood cognitive development in five Latin American countries
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Wealth gradients in early childhood cognitive development in five Latin American countries

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  • Norbert Schady
  • Jere Behrman
  • Maria Caridad Araujo
  • Raquel Bernal

Abstract

Research from the United States shows that gaps in early cognitive and non-cognitive ability appear early in the life cycle. Little is known about this important question for developing countries. This paper provides new evidence of sharp differences in cognitive development by socioeconomic status in early childhood for five Latin American countries. To help with comparability, we use the same measure of receptive language ability for all five countries. We find important differences in development in early childhood across countries, and steep socioeconomic gradients within every country. For the three countries where we can follow children over time, there are few substantive changes in scores once children enter school. Our results are robust to different ways of defining socioeconomic status, to different ways of standardizing outcomes, and to selective non-response on our measure of cognitive development

Suggested Citation

  • Norbert Schady & Jere Behrman & Maria Caridad Araujo & Raquel Bernal, 2014. "Wealth gradients in early childhood cognitive development in five Latin American countries," Documentos CEDE 10997, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    • Handle: RePEc:col:000089:010997
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    early childhood; socioeconomic gaps; Latin-American;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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