Literature Review:
Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner (2012) researched the influence of family income on their children’s achievement in US. The research question in this paper was whether income support programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can improve child future development? They also extended their research to other income maintenance programs and the general family income. In this paper, they mentioned that it’s hard to identify the separately causal effect of family income on children’s outcome because children growing up in poor families are likely to have adverse home environments or face other challenges (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012). Therefore, they used the data from the EITC (earned income tax credit) as the instrument variable for family income. Specifically, they used IV strategy to estimate the causal effect of income on
children’s math and reading achievement. The result of their research is those extra family income (from EITC) has a modest, but encouraging, causal effect for children growing up in poor families (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012, P1951). Their estimates also suggested that the effects are larger for children growing up in more disadvantaged families, younger children, and boys (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012, P1951).
Proposal:
The research question is how could the family background affect child’s academic performance in China? In order to estimate the impact of the family background on the children’s education in China, the dependent variable is students’ college entrance exam grades and the main independent variables are their parents’ income, their parents’ education level, etc. The data sources are mainly based on China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and China National Center for Education Statistics. I also want to use the instrumental variable and 2SLS method to avoid the endogenous problem. Based on the different conditions in China, I could choose the average income of neighborhood as IV to estimate the effects or other potential methods. There are other potential topics worth talking, like the influence of regional factors on child’s future development, the effect on improving the availability of educational resources on child’s academic performance, and other potential influence factors.
Reference:
Dahl, Gordon B, and L. Lochner. (2012): "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, 102(5), 1927-56.
Literature Review: Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner (2012) researched the influence of family income on their children’s achievement in US. The research question in this paper was whether income support programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) can improve child future development? They also extended their research to other income maintenance programs and the general family income. In this paper, they mentioned that it’s hard to identify the separately causal effect of family income on children’s outcome because children growing up in poor families are likely to have adverse home environments or face other challenges (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012). Therefore, they used the data from the EITC (earned income tax credit) as the instrument variable for family income. Specifically, they used IV strategy to estimate the causal effect of income on children’s math and reading achievement. The result of their research is those extra family income (from EITC) has a modest, but encouraging, causal effect for children growing up in poor families (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012, P1951). Their estimates also suggested that the effects are larger for children growing up in more disadvantaged families, younger children, and boys (Gordon.B.Dahl and Lance Lochner, 2012, P1951).
Proposal: The research question is how could the family background affect child’s academic performance in China? In order to estimate the impact of the family background on the children’s education in China, the dependent variable is students’ college entrance exam grades and the main independent variables are their parents’ income, their parents’ education level, etc. The data sources are mainly based on China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) and China National Center for Education Statistics. I also want to use the instrumental variable and 2SLS method to avoid the endogenous problem. Based on the different conditions in China, I could choose the average income of neighborhood as IV to estimate the effects or other potential methods. There are other potential topics worth talking, like the influence of regional factors on child’s future development, the effect on improving the availability of educational resources on child’s academic performance, and other potential influence factors.
Reference: Dahl, Gordon B, and L. Lochner. (2012): "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," American Economic Review, 102(5), 1927-56.