Human Capital HCEO - CEHD

In this new article out now @sociologicalsci.bsky.social, revisit the college-as-equalizer debate with heckman-style selection models & find little evidence in favor of #college being an equalizer. From our own postdoc @zhenghaowen.bsky.social, @professorholm.bsky.social & @kbkarlson.bsky.social.

Home-Based Child Care Supply and Quality This project examines various activities examining home-based child care (HBCC) supply and quality. HBCC is a vital part of our nation’s child care supply and the most common form of care for children...

Mathematica’s research on home-based child care—the most common form of non-parental care in the US— builds evidence on access, supply, and provider experiences.

Explore new briefs, reports, and data resources:
🔗 acf.gov/opre/project...

Who Gets What in Education: Can School Matching Improve Student Achievement? Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

www.nber.org/papers/w34936

Science Says Rich People Aren't Inherently Smarter. Mark Cuban Agrees IQ seems important, but the three things--all of which anyone can control--matter most.

Traits like self-discipline, persistence, and diligence matter more than innate intelligence when it comes to financial success. Inc. cites findings from Borghans, Golsteyn, @heckmanequation.bsky.social & @johneric.bsky.social
— & Mark Cuban agrees. www.inc.com/jeff-haden/s...

Applications are now open for the 2026 Price Theory Summer Camp!
Designed for PhD students outside UChicago, the program focuses on applying core economic tools to real problems.
🗓️ June 14–18
📝 Apply by March 1
🔗 https://ow.ly/k6ON50Y8mQt

Our own @heckmanequation.bsky.social and Jin Zhou (CityUHK) explain how psychometric tests may mismeasure underlying skills.

Dynamic Complementarity Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New work from @heckmanequation.bsky.social , Haihan Tian, Zijian Zhang, & Jin Zhou defines and provides evidence for dynamic complementarity -- the idea that past investments that lead to higher skill at one age promote growth of skills from investments at that age. www.nber.org/papers/w34833

More Hours, More Work: Head Start Expansions Boost Maternal Employment Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Funding full-day Head Start enrollment in 2016 increased single mothers’ employment, hours, and earnings. www.nber.org/papers/w34831

Regístrense ahora!
Seminario Web | 17 de Febrero 11:00AM CT
Escalando programas de visitas domiciliares en America Latina, presentado por @heckmanequation.bsky.social.
mailchi.mp/heckmanequat...

Are you a home visiting program leader or advocate working in Latin American contexts?
Join @heckmanequation.bsky.social Tues, Feb. 17, for a webinar on Scaling Home Visiting Approaches in Latin American Contexts. The session will be presented in Spanish. register here: mailchi.mp/heckmanequat...

HCEO member Shoshana Grossbard and colleagues find that proximity and context matter in reporting and classifying instances of intimate partner violence. hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/wor...

Early Learning Across Decades: Advances in Measuring Head Start Effectiveness Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New @nber.org working paper from Cloe Gibbs synthesizes decades of Head Start research. www.nber.org/papers/w34812

CityUHK economist and Nobel Laureate co-lead global early childhood research, benefiting over 80,000 rural children in China CityUHK economist together with Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences are jointly leading the early childhood research programme China REACH. The study aims to provide a practical, evidence-based framew...

Thanks, Asia Research News, for this piece on our China REACH program w/ CityUHK. We’ve learned so much about how enhancing interactions between caregivers and young children in rural areas can boost skills & long-term outcomes. @heckmanequation.bsky.social
www.asiaresearchnews.com/content/city...

New! Updated working paper from HCEO members Mariana Laverde and @aaronsojourner.org.
hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/wor...

New working paper from HCEO member Daniela Del Boca on boosting parenting skills: hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/wor...

HCEO member Giovanni Gallipoli explores the dimensions of demand for liquidity at the end of life in a new HCEO working paper with Neha Bairoliya and Kathleen McKiernan. hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/wor...

Africa as a Success Story: Political Organization in Pre-Colonial Africa | Becker Friedman Institute Social science research has long credited the emergence of politically centralized states with the development of institutions that enhance public good provision and better development outcomes, as well as allowing for the ability to fight wars, collect taxes, conduct international trade, manage natural resources, and otherwise respond to the demands of both state leaders and Read more...

New research by Soeren J. Henn and James Robinson challenges common views of pre-colonial Africa. Decentralized political systems prioritized local communities and shaped economic institutions around shared goals rather than centralized control or personal accumulation.

🔗 https://ow.ly/7aXE50Y5shY

Measuring the Growth of Skills Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

When measuring growth of knowledge and comparing people's skills, there’s a problem when new skills emerge that don’t fit existing scales. @heckmanequation.bsky.social, Haihan Tian, Jin Zhou & Zijian Zhang have addressed this by developing a novel measurement scheme. www.nber.org/papers/w34737

The Contribution of College Majors to Gender and Racial Earnings Differences Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New from HCEO member Michael Lovenheim et al: women and underrepresented minorities are less likely to major in high-earning fields like business, economics, engineering, and computer science in college -- but when they do, they experience lower returns to these majors. www.nber.org/papers/w34726

“The #Menopause ‘#Penalty’” now out as #CSEF Working Paper No. 770 (Jan 2026)!

📄 www.csef.it/WP/wp770.pdf

First circulated in March 2024 - the topic quickly sparked discussion beyond academia. ✨

With @rginja.bsky.social, Petra Persson & @bartonwillage.com

Posted a very early stage draft with rock star collaborators.

Key question: when we actually roll out AI tools, how do people use them? Do they just defer completely? Does it improve productivity and ability?

We look in the medical setting of pulmonary embolisms
paulgp.com/papers/Radio...

Community college bachelor’s degrees pay off in some fields but not all, offering higher earnings than associate degrees and mixed returns relative to traditional BAs, from Riley K. Acton, Camila Morales, Kalena Cortes, Julia A. Turner, and @loismiller.bsky.social www.nber.org/papers/w34684

Effects of Multigenerational Exposure to Early-Life Advantage: Lessons from a Primate Study | Journal of Political Economy: Vol 134, No 1 This paper uses three decades of data on rhesus monkeys to investigate the multigenerational effects of early-life advantage. Monkeys and their offspring are both randomly assigned to be reared togeth...

A new paper from @heckmanequation.bsky.social and coauthors shows multigenerational effects of early-life advantage. Monkeys raised by their mothers benefit compared to those raised apart -- but only if the mothers were ALSO mother-reared. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

The first 1000 days and beyond: The process of child development. Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New from HCEO member Orazio Attanasio:
www.nber.org/papers/w34651

In a new working paper, HCEO member Svetlana Pashchenko and colleagues explore the best ways to reform Social Security by quantifying its distortions, redistribution, and welfare effects. hceconomics.uchicago.edu/research/wor...

Making Entrepreneurs: Long Term Returns to Training Youth in Business Skills Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

A brief entrepreneurship course improved Ugandan secondary school students' skills and led them to launch more enterprises that outperformed those launched by peers who were not in the program. Findings are detailed in a new paper from HCEO member Paul Gertler et al. www.nber.org/papers/w34637

Human Capital and Development Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

A new @nber.org working paper from HCEO member Costas Meghir, Philippe Aghion & Ingvild Almås examines the role of human capital in driving economic development, innovation, and growth -- and the barriers to skill acquisition. www.nber.org/papers/w34602

An Evaluation of Biases in Wellbeing Estimates Using Interviewers Versus Online Data Collection in the Global Flourishing Study Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

Of interest:

www.nber.org/papers/w34599

I don't vouch for this quality of the analysis here (haven't read the details) but it asks an important question:

What would the labor market impacts be of ending ACA premium tax credits?
publichealth.gwu.edu/new-report-a...

Long-run Effects of Universal Pre-Primary Education Expansion: Evidence from Argentina Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, an...

New from HCEO member Paul Gertler et al: Creating more preschool capacity raised the probability of completing secondary school by 11.9 percentage points and of enrolling in college by 7.1 percentage points. www.nber.org/papers/w34552