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Title: Refugees and Early Childhood Human Capital

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2012

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Abstract: This paper quantifies cross-country differences in early childhood human capital. I embed a standard human capital production function into a cross-country model of human capital investment and labor market outcomes. The model predicts that only some human capital investment channels generate cross-country differences in early childhood human capital. I derive an empirical test of the importance of these channels. The test compares the late-life outcomes of otherwise identical immigrants who entered the U.S. at age 0 or age 5. I implement this test using the Indochinese refugees, who immigrated from poor countries during trying times, and for whom selection is unlikely to bias my results. The empirical results document a striking fact: there is no difference in late-life outcomes between Indochinese refugees who arrived at age 0 or age 5. I conclude that cross-country differences in early childhood human capital are small.

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Authors: Schoellman, Todd

Publisher: Arizona State University

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Education, Family and Marriage, Migration and Immigration

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