Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35662 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4001
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Recent research on the economics of human development deepens understanding of the origins of inequality and excellence. It draws on and contributes to personality psychology and the psychology of human development. Inequalities in family environments and investments in children are substantial. They causally affect the development of capabilities. Both cognitive and noncognitive capabilities determine success in life but to varying degrees for different outcomes. An empirically determined technology of capability formation reveals that capabilities are self-productive and cross-fertilizing and can be enhanced by investment. Investments in capabilities are relatively more productive at some stages of a child's life cycle than others. Optimal child investment strategies differ depending on target outcomes of interest and on the nature of adversity in a child's early years. For some configurations of early disadvantage and for some desired outcomes, it is efficient to invest relatively more in the later years of childhood than in the early years.
Subjects: 
Inequality
capabilities
noncognitive traits
human development
technology of capability formation
policy targeting
JEL: 
A12
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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