IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jlabec/doi10.1086-706090.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Head Start and the Distribution of Long-Term Education and Labor Market Outcomes

Author

Listed:
  • Monique De Haan
  • Edwin Leuven

Abstract

We investigate the effect of Head Start on education and wage income for individuals in their 30s in the NLSY79. We contribute to the existing literature by examining effects across outcome distributions, using an approach that relies on two weak stochastic dominance assumptions that can be checked using pre–Head Start cohorts. We find that Head Start has positive and statistically significant effects on years of education and wage income. We also uncover important heterogeneity in the program’s effectiveness; the effects are concentrated at the lower end of the distribution, and the effects are strongest for women, blacks, and Hispanics.

Suggested Citation

  • Monique De Haan & Edwin Leuven, 2020. "Head Start and the Distribution of Long-Term Education and Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(3), pages 727-765.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/706090
    DOI: 10.1086/706090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/706090
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/706090
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/706090?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Deming, 2009. "Early Childhood Intervention and Life-Cycle Skill Development: Evidence from Head Start," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 111-134, July.
    2. Charles F. Manski, 1997. "Monotone Treatment Response," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(6), pages 1311-1334, November.
    3. Eliana Garces & Duncan Thomas & Janet Currie, 2002. "Longer-Term Effects of Head Start," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 999-1012, September.
    4. Elizabeth U. Cascio & Douglas O. Staiger, 2012. "Knowledge, Tests, and Fadeout in Educational Interventions," NBER Working Papers 18038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jens Ludwig & Douglas L. Miller, 2007. "Does Head Start Improve Children's Life Chances? Evidence from a Regression Discontinuity Design," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(1), pages 159-208.
    6. Janet Currie & Duncan Thomas, 2000. "School Quality and the Longer-Term Effects of Head Start," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 35(4), pages 755-774.
    7. Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John V., 2007. "Disability and Employment: Reevaluating the Evidence in Light of Reporting Errors," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 102, pages 432-441, June.
    8. Steven Haider & Gary Solon, 2006. "Life-Cycle Variation in the Association between Current and Lifetime Earnings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(4), pages 1308-1320, September.
    9. Timothy N. Bond & Kevin Lang, 2013. "The Evolution of the Black-White Test Score Gap in Grades K–3: The Fragility of Results," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1468-1479, December.
    10. Chloe Gibbs & Jens Ludwig & Douglas L. Miller, 2011. "Does Head Start Do Any Lasting Good?," NBER Working Papers 17452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Currie, Janet & Thomas, Duncan, 1995. "Does Head Start Make a Difference?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 341-364, June.
    12. Charles F. Manski, 1989. "Anatomy of the Selection Problem," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 24(3), pages 343-360.
    13. Marianne P. Bitler & Hilary W. Hoynes & Thurston Domina, 2014. "Experimental Evidence on Distributional Effects of Head Start," NBER Working Papers 20434, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Manudeep Bhuller & Magne Mogstad & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2017. "Life-Cycle Earnings, Education Premiums, and Internal Rates of Return," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 35(4), pages 993-1030.
    15. Sneha Elango & Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman & Andrés Hojman, 2015. "Early Childhood Education," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 2, pages 235-297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Guido W. Imbens & Charles F. Manski, 2004. "Confidence Intervals for Partially Identified Parameters," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(6), pages 1845-1857, November.
    17. Manski, Charles F, 1990. "Nonparametric Bounds on Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 319-323, May.
    18. Anders Bohlmark & Matthew J. Lindquist, 2006. "Life-Cycle Variations in the Association between Current and Lifetime Income: Replication and Extension for Sweden," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(4), pages 879-900, October.
    19. Charles F. Manski & John V. Pepper, 2000. "Monotone Instrumental Variables, with an Application to the Returns to Schooling," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(4), pages 997-1012, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini & Sarah Grace See, 2022. "Early Childcare Duration and Student' Later Outcomes in Europe," Working Papers 2022-021, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    2. Attanasio, Orazio & de Barros, Ricardo Paes & Carneiro, Pedro & Evans, David K. & Lima, Lycia & Olinto, Pedro & Schady, Norbert, 2022. "Public Childcare, Labor Market Outcomes of Caregivers, and Child Development: Experimental Evidence from Brazil," IZA Discussion Papers 15705, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. H. Eren Suna & Mahmut Ozer, 2024. "Medium- and long-term outcomes of early childhood education: experiences from Turkish large-scale assessments," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Ity Shurtz & Alon Eizenberg & Adi Alkalay & Amnon Lahad, 2022. "Physician workload and treatment choice: the case of primary care," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 763-791, December.
    5. Chan, M. & Dalla-Zuanna, A., 2023. "Understanding Program Complementarities: Estimating the Dynamic Effects of Head Start with Multiple Alternatives," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2330, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    6. Hojman, Andrés & Lopez Boo, Florencia, 2022. "Public childcare benefits children and mothers: Evidence from a nationwide experiment in a developing country," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    7. Chaoran Chen & Zhigang Feng & Jiaying Gu, 2022. "Health, Health Insurance, and Inequality," Working Papers tecipa-730, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    8. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wust, 2020. "The Timing of Early Interventions and Child and Maternal Health," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 20/720, School of Economics, University of Bristol, UK.
    9. Frederik H. Bennhoff & Jorge Luis García & Duncan Ermini Leaf, 2024. "The Dynastic Benefits of Early-Childhood Education: Participant Benefits and Family Spillovers," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 18(1), pages 44-73.
    10. Hamid Noghanibehambari & Farzaneh Noghani, 2023. "Long‐run intergenerational health benefits of women empowerment: Evidence from suffrage movements in the US," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(11), pages 2583-2631, November.
    11. Hirani, Jonas Cuzulan & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," IZA Discussion Papers 13485, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
      • Miriam Wüst & Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2021. "Missing a Nurse Visit," CEBI working paper series 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. The Center for Economic Behavior and Inequality (CEBI).
    12. Jonas Lau-Jensen Hirani & Hans Henrik Sievertsen & Miriam Wüst & Johannes Wohlfart, 2020. "Missing a Nurse Visit," Discussion Papers 20-09, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    13. Zhewen Pan & Zhengxin Wang & Junsen Zhang & Yahong Zhou, 2024. "Marginal treatment effects in the absence of instrumental variables," Papers 2401.17595, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2024.
    14. Gordon Dahl & Katrine Loken, 2024. "Families, Public Policies, and the Labor Market," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2423, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    15. Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Rannveig Kaldager Hart, 2021. "Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 913-964, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patrick Kline & Christopher R. Walters, 2016. "Evaluating Public Programs with Close Substitutes: The Case of HeadStart," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1795-1848.
    2. Wan, Sirui & Bond, Timothy N. & Lang, Kevin & Clements, Douglas H. & Sarama, Julie & Bailey, Drew H., 2021. "Is intervention fadeout a scaling artefact?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    3. Monique De Haan & Magnus Stubhaug, 2024. "The Causal Component in the Intergenerational Transmission of Income," CESifo Working Paper Series 11395, CESifo.
    4. Sneha Elango & Jorge Luis García & James J. Heckman & Andrés Hojman, 2015. "Early Childhood Education," NBER Chapters, in: Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 2, pages 235-297, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jane Friesen & Brian Krauth & Ricardo Meilman Cohn, 2022. "The effect of universal full-day Kindergarten on student achievement," Discussion Papers dp22-01, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    6. Christelis, Dimitris & Dobrescu, Loretti I., 2020. "The causal effect of social activities on cognition: Evidence from 20 European countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    7. Giorgio Brunello & Dimitris Christelis & Anna Sanz‐de‐Galdeano & Anastasia Terskaya, 2024. "Does college selectivity reduce obesity? A partial identification approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(10), pages 2306-2320, October.
    8. Will Dobbie & Roland G. Fryer, Jr, 2009. "Are High Quality Schools Enough to Close the Achievement Gap? Evidence from a Social Experiment in Harlem," NBER Working Papers 15473, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Ariel Marek Pihl, 2018. "Head Start and Mothers' Work: Free Child Care or Something More?," Working Papers 18-13, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    10. Victor Chernozhukov & Sokbae Lee & Adam M. Rosen, 2013. "Intersection Bounds: Estimation and Inference," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(2), pages 667-737, March.
    11. Akabayashi, Hideo & Ruberg, Tim & Shikishima, Chizuru & Yamashita, Jun, 2023. "Education-oriented and care-oriented preschools: Implications on child development," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    12. Jeremiah Richey, 2014. "The Effect Of Youth Labor Market Experience On Adult Earnings," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 39(1), pages 47-61, March.
    13. Pedro Carneiro & Rita Ginja, 2014. "Long-Term Impacts of Compensatory Preschool on Health and Behavior: Evidence from Head Start," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(4), pages 135-173, November.
    14. Pihl, Ariel Marek, 2022. "Head Start and mothers’ work: Free child care or something more?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Drange, Nina & Havnes, Tarjei & Sandsør, Astrid M.J., 2016. "Kindergarten for all: Long run effects of a universal intervention," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 164-181.
    16. Monique de Haan, 2011. "The Effect of Parents' Schooling on Child's Schooling: A Nonparametric Bounds Analysis," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 29(4), pages 859-892.
    17. Grant, Charles & Padula, Mario, 2013. "Using bounds to investigate household debt repayment behaviour," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 336-354.
    18. Victor Chernozhukov & Wooyoung Kim & Sokbae Lee & Adam M. Rosen, 2015. "Implementing intersection bounds in Stata," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 15(1), pages 21-44, March.
    19. Fan, Yanqin & Park, Sang Soo, 2014. "Nonparametric inference for counterfactual means: Bias-correction, confidence sets, and weak IV," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 178(P1), pages 45-56.
    20. Chloe Gibbs & Jens Ludwig & Douglas L. Miller, 2011. "Does Head Start Do Any Lasting Good?," NBER Working Papers 17452, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/706090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.