蝌蚪网 Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Informing Mothers about the Benefits of Conversing with Infants: Experimental Evidence from Ghana
蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 17,
no. 2, May 2025
(pp. 388–417)
Abstract
We evaluate a low-cost intervention designed to boost parents' verbal engagement with infants, which tends to be limited in developing countries. In our randomized experiment, recent or expectant mothers watched a three-minute informational video and received a themed calendar. Six months later, treated mothers reported stronger belief in the benefits of verbal engagement, more frequent parent-infant conversation, and more advanced infant language skills. Treatment effects on objective measures of parent-child conversation frequency and infant skills were positive but insignificant. We find larger immediate treatment effects on objective parent-child conversation, suggesting potentially larger long-term effects had the behavior change stuck more.Citation
Dupas, Pascaline, Camille Falezan, Seema Jayachandran, and Mark Walsh. 2025. "Informing Mothers about the Benefits of Conversing with Infants: Experimental Evidence from Ghana." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy 17 (2): 388–417. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230283Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D83 Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
- D91 Micro-Based Behavioral Economics: Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
- I26 Returns to Education
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development