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dc.titleLong-run Effects of Universal Pre-primary Education Expansion: Evidence from Argentina
dc.contributor.authorBerlinski, Samuel
dc.contributor.authorCruces, Guillermo
dc.contributor.authorGaliani, Sebastián
dc.contributor.authorGertler, Paul
dc.contributor.authorGonzalez, Fabian Enrique
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageArgentina
dc.date.available2026-01-30T00:01:00
dc.date.issue2026-01-30T00:01:00
dc.description.abstractWe study the long-run effects of a large public expansion of pre-primary education in Argentina. Between 1993 and 1999, the federal government financed the construction of new preschool classrooms targeted to departments with low baseline enrollment and high poverty, creating roughly 186,000 additional places. We link administrative records on classroom construction to four population censuses and estimate difference-in-differences models that compare treated and untreated cohorts across high- and low-construction departments. An additional preschool seat per child increases post-kindergarten schooling by about 0.5 years, raising the probability of completing secondary school by 11.9 percentage points and of enrolling in post-secondary education by 7.1 percentage points. For women, access to the program also reduces completed fertility: an additional seat lowers the number of live births per woman by 0.18. We find no evidence that selective migration biases these estimates. Our results show little impact on labor-market outcomes at the census date, consistent with beneficiaries still being in school or in the early stages of their careers. A benefit-cost analysis based on the estimated schooling gains, standard Mincer returns, and observed construction and operating costs yields a benefit-cost ratio of about 11 and an internal rate of return of 13%. Our findings show that universal at-scale pre-primary expansions in middle-income countries can generate sizable improvements in human capital and demographic outcomes at relatively low fiscal cost.
dc.format.extent103
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0013925
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Long-run-Effects-of-Universal-Pre-primary-Education-Expansion-Evidence-from-Argentina.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectChildren
dc.subjectEarly Childhood Education
dc.subjectEarly Childhood Development
dc.subjectEducational Research
dc.subjectWomen
dc.subjectPopulation Aging
dc.subjectCensus
dc.subjectLabor
dc.subjectHigh School
dc.subjectPrimary Education
dc.subject.jelcodeJ13 - Fertility • Family Planning • Child Care • Children • Youth
dc.subject.jelcodeJ16 - Economics of Gender • Non-labor Discrimination
dc.subject.jelcodeJ38 - Public Policy
dc.subject.jelcodeO15 - Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01773
idb.operationRG-K1416
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