Publication Information

Francisco Carballo Santiago

Education and Skills
Student paper
India
Download Publication

Estimating causal effects of preschool on school dropout using non-experimental data from Andhra Pradesh

This Masters thesis uses data from Young Lives. The author's abstract reads:

There were 112 million children out of school all over the world in 2012. Aware of the benefits of education on future outcomes, it is of utmost importance to reduce the number of children out of school in order to reduce inequalities. While remedial education, conditional cash transfers and demand- and supply-side inputs have been the central point of educational policies in developing countries, preschooling has been barely studied. Using propensity score matching on non-experimental data from the Young Lives project, I estimate the effect of preschooling in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The richness and features of the data allow me to account for potential confounders. The estimation suggests that preschool affects dropouts significantly, reducing them by a 7%. Therefore, school attainment can be improved by developing a strong preschool system and providing quality preschool years to children.