Drought of Opportunities: Contemporaneous and Long-Term Impacts of Rainfall Shocks on Human Capital

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Shah, Manisha; Steinberg, Bryce Millett
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; National Bureau of Economic Research; Brown University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/690828
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 527-561
• 关键词: SCHOOL ATTENDANCE; child labor; HEALTH; fluctuations; investments; mortality; education; disease; INDIA

摘要

Higher wages are generally thought to increase human capital production, particularly in the developing world. We introduce a simple model of human capital production in which investments and time allocation differ by age. Using data on test scores and schooling from rural India, we show that higher wages increase human capital investment in early life (in utero to age 2) but decrease human capital from age 5 to 16. Children switch out of school into productive work when rainfall is higher. The opportunity cost of schooling, even for fairly young children, is an important factor in determining overall human capital investment.