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Maternal employment, migration, and child development

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  • Liu, Haiyong
  • Mroz, Thomas A.
  • van der Klaauw, Wilbert

Abstract

We analyze the roles of and interrelationships among school inputs and parental inputs in affecting child development through the specification and estimation of a behavioral model of household migration and maternal employment decisions. We integrate information on these decisions with observations on child outcomes over a 13-year period from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY). We find that the impact of our school quality measures diminishes by factors of 2 to 4 after accounting for the fact that families may choose where to live in part based on school characteristics and labor market opportunities. The positive statistical relationship between child outcomes and maternal employment reverses sign and remains statistically significant after controlling for its possible endogeneity. Our estimates imply that when parental responses are taken into account, policy changes in school quality end up having only minor impacts on child test scores.

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  • Liu, Haiyong & Mroz, Thomas A. & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2010. "Maternal employment, migration, and child development," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 156(1), pages 212-228, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:econom:v:156:y:2010:i:1:p:212-228
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    5. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Penny Gordon-Larsen & David Guilkey, 2014. "Obesity and Health-Related Decisions: An Empirical Model of the Determinants of Weight Status," Borradores de Economia 12171, Banco de la Republica.
    6. Moroni, Gloria & Nicoletti, Cheti & Tominey, Emma, 2019. "Child Socio-Emotional Skills: The Role of Parental Inputs," IZA Discussion Papers 12432, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Lefebvre, Pierre & Merrigan, Philip & Verstraete, Matthieu, 2011. "Public subsidies to private schools do make a difference for achievement in mathematics: Longitudinal evidence from Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 79-98, February.
    8. Jianhua Wang & Jia Wu, 2018. "Education of Left-Behind Children and Return Decisions of Migrant Workers in China," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(6), pages 36-46, June.
    9. Peter Kooreman, 2007. "Time, money, peers, and parents; some data and theories on teenage behavior," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(1), pages 9-33, February.
    10. Daniela Del Boca & Christopher Flinn & Matthew Wiswall, 2014. "Household Choices and Child Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(1), pages 137-185.
    11. Powdthavee, Nattavudh & Vernoit, James, 2013. "Parental unemployment and children's happiness: A longitudinal study of young people's well-being in unemployed households," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 253-263.
    12. Francesconi, Marco & Rainer, Helmut & van der Klaauw, Wilbert, 2008. "Unintended Consequences of Welfare Reform: The Case of Divorced Parents," IZA Discussion Papers 3891, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Liu Qian & Skans Oskar Nordstrom, 2010. "The Duration of Paid Parental Leave and Children's Scholastic Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, January.
    14. Chris M. Herbst & Erdal Tekin, 2010. "The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies," NBER Working Papers 16250, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Thomas A. Mroz & Gabriel Picone & Frank Sloan & Arseniy P. Yashkin, 2016. "Screening For A Chronic Disease: A Multiple Stage Duration Model With Partial Observability," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57(3), pages 915-934, August.
    16. Birgitta Rabe, 2019. "Do school inputs crowd out parents’ investments in their children?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 460-460, May.
    17. Marco Francesconi & Helmut Rainer & Wilbert Klaauw, 2015. "Unintended consequences of welfare reform for children with single parents: a theoretical analysis," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 709-733, September.
    18. Ori Zax, 2015. "Human Capital And The Probability Of Divorce," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 67(S1), pages 111-134, December.
    19. Maria Eugenia Canon, 2010. "The Role of Schools in the production of achievement," 2010 Meeting Papers 543, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    20. Sarah See, 2016. "Parental supervision and adolescent risky behaviors," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 185-206, March.
    21. Leonardo Fabio Morales & Penny Gordon-Larsen & David Guilkey, 2014. "Obesity and Health-Related Decisions: An Empirical Model of the Determinants of Weight Status," Borradores de Economia 846, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    22. Kennan, John & Walker, James R., 2010. "Wages, welfare benefits and migration," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 156(1), pages 229-238, May.
    23. Heller, Lauren R., 2013. "Do slums matter? Location and early childhood preventive care choices among urban residents of Bangladesh," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 43-55.

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