NEGOTIATING A BETTER FUTURE: HOW INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FACILITATE INTERGENERATIONAL INVESTMENT

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ashraf, Nava; Bau, Natalie; Low, Corinne; Mcginn, Kathleen
• 署名单位: University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR); University of Pennsylvania; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-5533
• DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjz039
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 1095-1151
• 关键词: cognitive-development; CHILDREN; COOPERATION; BEHAVIOR; GENDER; hiv

摘要

Using a randomized controlled trial, we study whether a negotiation skills training can improve girls' educational outcomes in a low-resource environment. We find that a negotiation training given to eighth-grade Zambian girls significantly improved educational outcomes over the next three years, and these effects did not fade out. To better understand mechanisms, we estimate the effects of two alternative treatments. Negotiation had much stronger effects than an informational treatment, which had no effect. A treatment designed to have more traditional girls' empowerment effects had directionally positive but insignificant educational effects. Relative to this treatment, negotiation increased enrollment in higher-quality schooling and had larger effects for high-ability girls. These findings are consistent with a model in which negotiation allows girls to resolve incomplete contracting problems with their parents, yielding increased educational investment for those who experience sufficiently high returns. We provide evidence for this channel through a lab-in-the-field game and follow-up survey with girls and their guardians.