题目：Parenting Home Visiting Program versus Cash Transfers for Preschool Children in Thailand

主讲人：Weerachart T. Kilenthong，泰国商会大学

时间：2024年9月27日（星期五）上午10:00-11:30

地点：暨南大学（石牌校区）中惠楼106会议室

主讲人简介：

Tee Kilenthong is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics and Director of the Research Institute for Policy Evaluation and Design (RIPED) at the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (UTCC). His research interests include human capital, human development, development economics, macroeconomics, contract theory, and financial economics.

His current research focuses on early childhood and human capital development. One long-term research project is the Thailand Childhood Longitudinal Survey (TCLS), which collects detailed information regarding human development from early childhood. Another project is the RIECE Thailand project, which promotes the HighScope approach to enhance the quality of early childhood education nationwide.

He received a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 2006, where he studied under Professor Robert M. Townsend. He received a Bachelor of Engineering (First Class Honor with Gold Medal) from Chulalongkorn University and a Master of Physics from the same university. He was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California at Santa Barbara between 2006 and 2010.

Abstract：

This paper evaluates the impact of a weekly parenting home visiting program based on the Reach Up curriculum and a one-time cash transfer of 4,000 THB using a randomized controlled trial in Thailand. The targeted children were preschoolers with an average age of 38 months when the parenting program started. The intent-to-treat (ITT) effects of the 10-month parenting program and the cash transfer were significant, with effect sizes of about 0.142 and 0.123 SD, respectively. However, the effect of the parenting is more robust than the cash transfer. Treatment on the treated (TOT) effects revealed that each home visit improved child outcome by 0.005 SD. The parenting program benefited disadvantaged children more than the advantaged, while the cash transfer benefited younger children more than the older ones. Both parenting and cash transfer significantly raised time and material investment. The observed impact of the interventions seems to be driven primarily by material investment.