The Economic Rationale for Investing in Children:
A Focus on Child Care

Project Director:  Diane Paulsell
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

December 2001

This report is available on the Internet at:
http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/cc-rationale02

How to obtain a printed copy

Contents

• Conference Summary
• References
• Appendix A:  Conference Materials
  1. Participant List
  2. Conference Agenda
  3. Biographies of Conference Speakers
• Appendix B:  Rationales for Public Sector Training and Other Investments in Labor Markets and Their Applicability to Public Investments in Child Care by Robinson G. Hollister, Swarthmore College
  1. Introduction
  2. Won't the Market Achieve Optimal Provision of this Service in the Most Efficient Fashion?
     1. Human Capital Rationales
     2. Macroeconomic Rationales
     3. Segmented Markets Rationales
     4. Distributional Rationales
     5. Area Redevelopment Rationales
     6. Merit Goods Rationales
     7. Miscellany
• Appendix C:  Public Investment in Education:  Lessons for Child Care Policy by Steven G. Rivkin, Amherst College and University of Texas, Dallas
  • Abstract
  1. Introduction
  2. Rationale for Government Role in Education
     1. Market Failure
     2. Equity and Fairness
     3. Protection of Minors
     4. Implications for Child Care and Preschool
  3. The Determinants of Elementary and Secondary School Quality
     1. Do Schools and Teachers Make a Difference?
     2. School Resource Effects
  4. Policy Implications
     1. The Inevitability of Rising Costs
     2. Policy Recommendations
     3. Summary
• Appendix D:  What Can We Learn about Child Care Policy from Public Investments in Children's Health? by Janet Currie, University of California at Los Angeles
  • Abstract
  1. Introduction
  2. What Are the Goals of Public Investments in Children?
  3. What is the Economic Case for Governmental Investment in Children?
     1. Equity
     2. Market Failures:  Liquidity Constraints, Information Problems, and Externalities
  4. Did Public Health Insurance Extensions Improve Children's Utilization of Health Care?
     1. An Overview of Recent Extensions of Eligibility for Health Insurance to Low Income Pregnant Women, Infants, and Children
     2. Takeup, Transactions Costs, and the Importance of Outreach
     3. Crowdout
  5. Does Public Investment in Health Care Improve Child Health?
     1. Effects of the Expansions in Eligibility for Insurance on Child Health
     2. Immunizations
  6. The Importance of Non-Medical Threats to Health
  7. Conclusions

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Last updated:  01/18/02