Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Feb 1;94(1-2):114-128.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2009.11.001.

The Rate of Return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program

James J Heckman  1 , Seong Hyeok Moon, Rodrigo Pinto, Peter A Savelyev, Adam Yavitz
Affiliations

The Rate of Return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program

James J Heckman et al. J Public Econ. .

Abstract

This paper estimates the rate of return to the High/Scope Perry Preschool Program, an early intervention program targeted toward disadvantaged African-American youth. Estimates of the rate of return to the Perry program are widely cited to support the claim of substantial economic benefits from preschool education programs. Previous studies of the rate of return to this program ignore the compromises that occurred in the randomization protocol. They do not report standard errors. The rates of return estimated in this paper account for these factors. We conduct an extensive analysis of sensitivity to alternative plausible assumptions. Estimated annual social rates of return generally fall between 7-10 percent, with most estimates substantially lower than those previously reported in the literature. However, returns are generally statistically significantly different from zero for both males and females and are above the historical return on equity. Estimated benefit-to-cost ratios support this conclusion.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Anderson DA. The aggregate burden of crime. Journal of Law and Economics. 1999 October;42(2):611–642.
    1. Anderson M. Multiple inference and gender differences in the effects of early intervention: A reevaluation of the Abecedarian, Perry Preschool and early training projects. Journal of the American Statistical Association. 2008 December;103(484):1481–1495.
    1. Anderson PM, Meyer BD. The effects of the unemployment insurance payroll tax on wages, employment, claims and denials. Journal of Public Economics. 2000 October;78(1–2):81–106.
    1. Bajaj V, Labaton S. Big risks for U.S. in trying to value bad bank assets. New York Times Business/Economy; 2009. Feb 1 [accessed2/4/2009]. URL http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/business/economy/02value.html.
    1. Barnett WS. The Perry Preschool Program and its long-term effects: A benefit-cost analysis. Ypsilanti, MI: Early Childhood Papers 2, High/Scope Educational Research Foundation; 1985.

LinkOut - more resources