Evaluating the Early Childhood Development Program in the Philippines

Sharon J. Ghuman, University of Michigan
Jere Behrman, University of Pennsylvania
Paulita L. Duazo, University of San Carlos
Socorro Gultiano, University of San Carlos
Elizabeth King, World Bank Group
Nanette Lee, Universtiy of San Carlos-TC

In recent years increasing attention and resources have been devoted to early childhood development (ECD) in low to middle income countries. There are few rigorous studies on the effectiveness of ECD related programs for improving children’s cognitive skills and nutritional status in the developing world. We evaluate an important ECD initiative of the Philippine government using data collected over three years on a cohort of 7,188 children age 0-4 at baseline in two “treatment” regions that received the ECD program and a “control” region that did not receive the intervention. The main method we use to estimate the program impact is propensity score based matching of children in the treatment and control regions. In addition to the main effects, we consider whether the ECD program effects differ by the human or social capital of the family, health service providers, and community leaders as well as community socioeconomic characteristics.