Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250582 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 14921
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper presents the results of a nationwide very low-cost behavioral intervention aimed at increasing preschool attendance in Uruguay. Specifically, behaviorally-informed messages were delivered through the government's official mobile app. We document a large reduction in absenteeism, as well as an increase in some measures of cognitive development, though only for children around the median of the attendance rate baseline distribution (between deciles 4 and 6). The intervention was ineffective for children with very high or very low pre-treatment absenteeism levels. Our results, although encouraging, emphasize the limits of these types of interventions, especially for children in families where barriers to reduce absenteeism might be structural rather than behavioral.
Subjects: 
preschool attendance
behavioral
cognitive development
JEL: 
D9
I2
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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