« Back to Results
Manchester Grand Hyatt, America's Cup C
Hosted By:
Association of Christian Economists
Applied Micro in Economic Development: Natural Disasters, Education, and Technology
Paper Session
Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (PDT)
- Chair: Stephen Smith, Hope College
The Effects of Fuel-Efficient Cook Stoves on Fuel Use, Particulate Matter, and Cooking Practices: Results from a Randomized Trial in Rural Uganda
Abstract
Smoky cookfires contribute to global climate change and kill approximately four million people annually. While many studies have examined the effects of fuel-efficient cookstoves to address this issue, this study is the first to do so while selling stoves at market prices. After introducing a fuel-efficient cookstove, fuelwood use and household air particulates decline by 12%, and by smaller percentages after adjusting for observed-induced Hawthorne effects. These reductions are less than laboratory predictions and well short of World Health Organization pollution targets. Even when introducing a second stove, most households continued to use their traditional stoves for most cooking.What Explains Vietnam's Exceptional Performance in Education Relative to Other Countries? Analysis of the Young Lives Data from Ethiopia, Peru, India (Andhra Pradesh), and Vietnam
Abstract
Vietnam’s strong performance on the 2012 and 2015 PISA assessments has led to interest in what explains the strong academic performance of Vietnamese students. Analysis of the PISA data has not shed much light on this issue. This paper analyses a much richer data set, the Young Lives data for Ethiopia, India (Andhra Pradesh), Peru and Vietnam, to investigate the reasons for the strong academic performance of 15-year-olds in Vietnam. The (preliminary) analysis thus far indicates that the Young Lives data can “explain” about two thirds of the gap between Vietnamese and Ethiopian 15-year-olds, about half of the gap between Vietnamese and Indian 15-year-olds, and about 40% of the gap between Vietnamese and Peruvian 15-year-olds.All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Evidence from the Philippines
Abstract
Although there is broad agreement that investments in early childhood education are important, questions about the effectiveness of different types of programs persist. We study the effects of two distinct types of kindergarten programs in the Philippines: the Jumpstart kindergarten program, administered by a local faith-based NGO implemented between 2005 and 2017, and a government-sponsored kindergarten program that began to be introduced nation-wide in 2012. Exploiting the timing of the roll-out of these two programs, we find large effects on primary school academic performance due to attending Jumpstart and much smaller effects from attending the government kindergarten. We then examine mediating variables that may explain these differential effects. Although we find strong evidence of positive effects on socio-emotional outcomes such as grit, peer affiliation, self-control, openness, and conscientiousness among children who attended Jumpstart, we find none of these mediating effects among children who attended the government kindergarten. Our results confirm other research that highlights the importance of the development of socio-emotional skills and character formation in the pre-elementary grade levels not only as ends in themselves but as mediators to better academic performance.Discussant(s)
Sarah E. Hamersma
,
Syracuse University
Russell D. Toth
,
University of Sydney
Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere
,
Agnes Scott College
Denise Stanley
,
California State University-Fullerton
JEL Classifications
- O1 - Economic Development
- I2 - Education and Research Institutions