Economics

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Browsing Economics by Author "Behrman, Jere R."

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    Aligning Learning Incentives of Students and Teachers: Results from a Social Experiment in Mexican High Schools
    (University of Chicago Press, 2015) Behrman, Jere R.; Parker, Susan W.; Todd, Petra E.; Wolpin, Kenneth I.
    This paper evaluates the impact of three different performance incentive schemes using data from a social experiment that randomized 88 Mexican high schools with over 40,000 students into three treatment groups and a control group. Treatment 1 provides individual incentives for performance on curriculum-based mathematics tests to students only, treatment 2 to teachers only, and treatment 3 gives both individual and group incentives to students, teachers, and school administrators. Program impact estimates reveal the largest average effects for treatment 3, smaller impacts for treatment 1, and no impact for treatment 2.
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    Early life height and weight production functions with endogenous energy and protein inputs
    (Elsevier, 2016) Puentes, Esteban; Wang, Fan; Behrman, Jere R.; Cunha, Flavio; Hoddinott, John; Maluccio, John A.; Adair, Linda S.; Borja, Judith B.; Martorell, Reynaldo; Stein, Aryeh D.
    We examine effects of protein and energy intakes on height and weight growth for children between 6 and 24 months old in Guatemala and the Philippines. Using instrumental variables to control for endogeneity and estimating multiple specifications, we find that protein intake plays an important and positive role in height and weight growth in the 6ﾖ24 month period. Energy from other macronutrients, however, does not have a robust relation with these two anthropometric measures. Our estimates indicate that in contexts with substantial child undernutrition, increases in protein-rich food intake in the first 24 months can have important growth effects, which previous studies indicate are related significantly to a range of outcomes over the life cycle.
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    Teacher Quality in Public and Private Schools under a Voucher System: The Case of Chile
    (University of Chicago Press, 2016) Behrman, Jere R.; Tincani, Michela M.; Todd, Petra E.; Wolpin, Kenneth I.
    Chile is unusual in having long-term experience with nationwide school vouchers. A key criticism of school voucher systems is that they make it easier for private schools to attract better teachers to the detriment of public schools. This paper uses longitudinal data from Chile to estimate a discrete choice dynamic programming (DCDP) model of teacher and nonteacher labor supply decisions and to explore how wage policies affect the composition of the teacher labor force in public and private schools. In the model, individuals first decide whether to get a teaching degree and then choose annually from among five work/home sector alternatives. Empirical results show that private voucher schools attract better teachers than public schools. However, the existence of the private voucher sector also draws higher-productivity individuals into the teaching profession.