Cash Transfers and Parental Investments: Evidence from Bolsa Familia Program [Draft Soon]
Abstract: This paper examines whether Conditional Cash Transfer programs can impact parental involvement in children’s education, a key factor in human capital accumulation. This impact has not been previously studied in the literature. I study this question in the context of Brazil’s Bolsa Familia Program, the largest CCT in the world. Exploiting an exogenous expansion and a methodological change in the allocation rule of the new slots to municipalities, I first estimate the impacts of increased exposure to the program using a difference-in-differences approach. Drawing on administrative educational data from São Paulo state, I find that the Bolsa Familia expansion enhanced parental supervision of children's school-related tasks, but it does not seem to impact parental attendance in school activities. These behavioral changes seem to be associated with measurable improvements in children's performance at school.
Does Financial Education Impact School Attainment? Experimental Evidence from Brazil [Nova SBE Working Paper Series]
with Ricardo A. Madeira and Victor G. Vaccaro
Abstract: Can an applied mathematics curriculum enhance student intrinsic motivation and improve math achievement? We tackle this question through a randomized control trial of a program that integrates financial education into the mathematics curriculum in Brazil. Spanning 190 public schools and over 15,000 students, our study reveals that the program significantly boosts students’ interest in mathematics and enhances financial literacy and math performance, particularly among students from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds. Initially, the program strengthens these students’ internal locus of control and broad interest in mathematics during the first year. By the second year’s conclusion, it positively impacts their financial literacy, math proficiency, and specific socio-emotional skills crucial for the labor market. However, we do not observe significant changes in self-reported financial behaviors or attitudes as measured by a financial autonomy index.
How Does Training in Active-Learning Methodologies Impact Teachers’ Beliefs? Evidence from Brazil [Preliminary Draft Available]
with Ricardo A. Madeira and Victor G. Vaccaro
Abstract: Our findings suggest that the program improved teachers’ expectations on their students’ academic prospects and their experience with remote teaching during the school closures of the COVID-19 pandemic. Treated teachers also seem to have assimilated financial education notions into their lives, reporting lower debt than the control group. We find mixed results on teachers’ socio-emotional skills.