Working paper

Enhancing Human Capital in Children: A Case Study on Scaling

Francesco Agostinelli, Ciro Avitabile, and Matteo Bobba

Abstract

This paper provides novel insights into the science of scaling by examining an edu-cational mentoring program in Mexico. The analysis encompasses two independent field experiments, and seizes a unique opportunity to learn from the government’s implementation of the same intervention. While the program originally implemented at scale demonstrates limited effectiveness, the introduction of a new modality with enhanced mentor training significantly improves children’s outcomes. Mentor-parent interactions are found to stimulate parental engagement at the community-school level, which emerges as a critical factor for the scalability of the program. Our findings offer compelling evidence on the socially determined drivers of education interventions at scale.

Keywords

Children’s Skills; Parental Investment and Community Engagement; Sci-ence of Scaling;

JEL codes

  • C90: General
  • C93: Field Experiments
  • D02: Institutions: Design, Formation, and Operations
  • I3: Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
  • J1: Demographic Economics

Replaced by

Francesco Agostinelli, Ciro Avitabile, and Matteo Bobba, Enhancing Human Capital in Children: A Case Study on Scaling, Journal of Political Economy, 2024, forthcoming.

Reference

Francesco Agostinelli, Ciro Avitabile, and Matteo Bobba, Enhancing Human Capital in Children: A Case Study on Scaling, TSE Working Paper, n. 21-1196, March 2021, revised October 2023.

See also

Published in

TSE Working Paper, n. 21-1196, March 2021, revised October 2023