The rate of return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program

Arbeitspapier

This paper estimates the rate of return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program, an early intervention program targeted toward disadvantaged African-American youth. Estimates of the rate of return to the Perry program are widely cited to support the claim of substantial economic benefits from preschool education programs. Previous studies of the rate of return to this program ignore the compromises that occurred in the randomization protocol. They do not report standard errors. The rates of return estimated in this paper account for these factors. We conduct an extensive analysis of sensitivity to alternative plausible assumptions. Estimated social rates of return generally fall between 7-10 percent, with most estimates substantially lower than those previously reported in the literature. However, returns are generally statistically significantly different from zero for both males and females and are above the historical return on equity. Estimated benefit-to-cost ratios support this conclusion.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 4533

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Externalities ; Educational Finance; Financial Aid ; Education: Government Policy
• Subject: Rate of return ; cost-benefit analysis ; standard errors ; Perry Preschool Program ; compromised randomization ; early childhood intervention programs ; deadweight costs ; Kinderbetreuung ; Bildungsverhalten ; Bildungspolitik ; Schwarze ; Wirkungsanalyse ; Bildungsertrag ; Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse ; Schätzung ; USA

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Heckman, James Joseph ; Moon, Seong Hyeok ; Pinto, Rodrigo ; Savelyev, Peter A. ; Yavitz, Adam
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/36310
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:41 AM CET