Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

Child labors effect on academic achievement is estimated using unique data on third and fourth graders in nine Latin American countries. Cross country variation in truancy regulations provides an exogenous shift in the ages of children normally in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	Gunnarsson, Victoria, Orazem, Peter F., Sanchez, Mario A.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2014
Subjects:	ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES ADVERSE EFFECTS AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS BASIC SKILLS CAPITAL INVESTMENT CAPITAL INVESTMENTS CHILD LABOR CHILD LABOR LAWS CHILD LABOUR CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS CLASSROOM CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT COGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENT COGNITIVE SKILLS COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW COMPULSORY SCHOOLING CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMICS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EDUCATIONAL POLICIES EMPLOYMENT ENROLLMENT ENROLLMENT BY AGE ENROLLMENT RATES FAMILY LABOR GIRLS HUMAN CAPITAL INCOME INSTRUCTION LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR FORCE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION LABOR LAWS LABOR MARKET LABOR MARKETS LABOR SUPPLY LABORERS LEARNING LEARNING ACHIEVEMENT LEARNING OUTCOMES LEGAL GUARDIANS LITERACY LIVING STANDARDS MARKET WAGE MARKET WAGES MATHEMATICS NUMERACY NUTRITION OLDER CHILDREN OPPORTUNITY COSTS PARENTAL EDUCATION PARENTS PARTICIPATION RATES POLITICAL ECONOMY PRIMARY ENROLLMENT PRIMARY ENROLLMENT RATES PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT PRIMARY SCHOOLING PRODUCTION PROCESS PRODUCTIVITY QUALITY OF EDUCATION READING RURAL AREAS RURAL CHILDREN RURAL GIRLS SCHOOL ATTENDANCE SCHOOL PRINCIPALS SCHOOL QUALITY SCHOOL TIME SCHOOLING SCHOOLS SMALL SCHOOLS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT TEACHER TRAINING TEACHERS TEXTBOOKS WAGES WORKING CHILDREN WORKING HOURS YOUNG CHILDREN YOUNGER CHILDREN
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2006/01/17753324/child-labor-school-achievement-latin-america http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16463

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Summary:	Child labors effect on academic achievement is estimated using unique data on third and fourth graders in nine Latin American countries. Cross country variation in truancy regulations provides an exogenous shift in the ages of children normally in these grades, providing exogenous variation in the opportunity cost of children's time. Least squares estimates suggest that child labor lowers test scores, but those estimates are biased toward zero. Corrected estimates are still negative and statistically significant. Children working 1 standard deviation above the mean have average scores that are 16 percent lower on mathematics examinations and 11 percent lower on language examinations, consistent with the estimates of the adverse impact of child labor on returns to schooling.

Child Labor and School Achievement in Latin America

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