title: Skill formation and the economics of investing in disadvantaged children.
abstract: This paper summarizes evidence on the effects of early environments on child, adolescent, and adult achievement. Life cycle skill formation is a dynamic process in which early inputs strongly affect the productivity of later inputs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. jjh@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: James J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Heckman
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational / Q000191:economics; D004493:Education / Q000191:economics; D005190:Family; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007223:Infant; D007360:Intelligence; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations