A behavioral intervention to increase preschool attendance in Uruguay

Nicolas Ajzenman, Laura Becerra Luna, Juan Manuel Hernández-Agramonte, Florencia Lopez Boo, Marcelo Perez Alfaro, Alejandro Vásquez-Echeverría, Mercedes Mateo Diaz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a nationwide, low-cost intervention that used messages informed by behavioral economics and delivered through the government's official mobile app to increase preschool attendance in Uruguay. We document null results for attendance and child development outcomes. We also estimate conditional average treatment effects (CATE) across individuals using causal forest algorithms. We present exploratory evidence that absenteeism and some measures of cognitive development might have improved for children around the median of the baseline distribution of attendance rate.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number102984
JournalJournal of Development Economics
Volume159
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2022

Keywords

  • Behavioral
  • Early childhood Development
  • Nudge
  • Preschool
  • Uruguay

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Development
  • Economics and Econometrics

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