TY  - RPRT
        AU  - García, Jorge Luis
AU  - Heckman, James J.
AU  - Leaf, Duncan Ermini
AU  - Prados, Maria José
        TI  - Quantifying the Life-Cycle Benefits of a Prototypical Early Childhood Program
        PY  - 2017/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 10811
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp10811
        AB  - This paper quantifies the experimentally evaluated life-cycle benefits of a widely implemented early childhood program targeting disadvantaged families. We join experimental data with non-experimental data using economic models to forecast its life-cycle benefits. Our baseline estimate of the internal rate of return (benefit/cost ratio) is 13.7% (7.3). 
We conduct extensive sensitivity analyses to account for model estimation error, forecasting error, and judgments made about the empirical magnitudes of non-market benefits. We examine the performance of widely used, ad hoc estimates of long-term benefit/cost ratios based on short-term measures of childhood test scores and find them wanting.
        KW  - childcare
KW  - rates of return
KW  - long-term forecasts
KW  - life-cycle benefits
KW  - early childhood education
        ER  -