Parent-Child Information Frictions and Human Capital Investment: Evidence from a Field Experiment
Year: 2020
Type: article
Study designs: Randomized Controlled Trial, Clinical Trial
Abstract: This paper studies information frictions between parents and children and their effect on human capital investments. I provide biweekly information to a random sample of parents about their child’s missed assignments. Parents have upwardly biased beliefs about their child’s effort. Providing information attenuates this bias and improves student achievement. Using data from the experiment, I estimate a persuasion game between parents and their children that shows that the treatment effect is due to more accurate beliefs and reduced monitoring costs. Policy simulations from the model demonstrate that improving school reporting or providing more information to parents can increase learning at low cost.
Source: Journal of Political Economy
DOI: 10.1086/711410
Author: Peter Bergman
Institution: Columbia University
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2159243030