Human capital accumulation and compensation: Evidence from Left-behind Children in rural China

Last registered on August 02, 2021

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Human capital accumulation and compensation: Evidence from Left-behind Children in rural China

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0008027

Initial registration date

August 01, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

August 02, 2021, 4:33 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

China

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Shutao Sun

Affiliation

Jinan University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Chunchao Wang

PI Affiliation

Jinan University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Jia Wu

PI Affiliation

Jinan University

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2018-03-30

End date

2021-10-01

Keywords

Education, Labor

Additional Keywords

human capital, left-behind children

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

Abstract

This study conducts a filed experiment that explore how to improve the academic achievement and non-cognitive ability of left-behind children. We examine the video calling intervention and after-school tutoring intervention in our experiment.
We designed two different type of intervention programs: Video-calling program as academic and After-class tutoring program as academic intervention, which were targeted at children from 3rd grades to 5th grades in primary school. Moreover, with video-calling and after-school tutoring intervention, we endeavour to compare average treatment effect of two different interventions and expect to see improvement both in academic achievement and Big-five personality of left-behind children.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Sun, Shutao, Chunchao Wang and Jia Wu. 2021. "Human capital accumulation and compensation: Evidence from Left-behind Children in rural China." AEA RCT Registry. August 02. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.8027-1.0

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2018-05-01

Intervention End Date

2018-07-08

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Academic achievement; 2. Big-Five personality traits; 4. Human capital

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Health(height, weight etc.)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

This study conducts a filed experiment that explore how to improve the academic achievement and non-cognitive ability of left-behind children. We examine the video-calling intervention and after-school tutoring intervention in our experiment.
We designed two different type of intervention programs: Video-calling program as academic and After-class tutoring program as academic intervention, which were targeted at children from 3rd grades to 5th grades in primary school. Moreover, with video-calling and after-school tutoring intervention,we endeavour to compare average treatment effect of two different interventions and expect to see improvement both in academic achievement and Big-five personality of left-behind children.
The video-calling program allows left-behind children have a 10-minutes video call with their migrant parents (father or mother) twice a week via their head teacher’s mobile phone. The content of the call is not limited, by the father or mother to determine. Before the intervention, the head teacher communicated with the parents of left-behind children participating in the experiment and decided two specific time periods of two calls per week. At the specified time, the students were arranged at a separate room to chat with their parents. If the students did not succeed in the video with their parents at the appointed time, the head teacher would contact the parents for an additional appointment.
After-class tutoring program arranged left-behind children to participate in Chinese and mathematics tutoring and review what they learnt, rather than teach new knowledge. The after-class tutoring program was carried out at the grade level, taught by specialized teacher, and lasted for 40 minutes each time and twice a week.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

school-grade-class and individual level

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

23 schools;

Sample size: planned number of observations

1247 left-behind children, 3335 non-left behind children

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

348 left-behind children in video-calling group, 326 left-behind children in after-school tutoring group,290 left-behind children in control group of treatment class, 238 left-behind children in control group of control class.
275 non left-behind children in after-school tutoring group, 1915 non left-behind children in control group of treatment class, 1145 left-behind children in control group of control class.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB