- Home
- Publications
- Belief In A Just World And Children’s Cognitive Scores
Belief in a just world and children’s cognitive scores
Parental beliefs are recognised by psychologists as an important causal influence on child development. A two-period model of human capital accumulation in the framework of Becker and Tomes (1986) is presented. In the first period parents transfer their beliefs, distinct from genes, to children by signalling their ‘belief in a just world’ or their perceived return to effort. Children respond by choosing effort, irrespective of the real world returns, which combines with their genes to create early ability. This determines the rate of return to second-period investment and final attainment. If parents are credit constrained, both beliefs and income determine attainment. Empirical analysis using the second generation of the NCDS shows that beliefs are a strong predictor of early attainment and significantly reduce the importance of parental income. The identifying assumption is that parent beliefs are slow-moving and not conditioned on the child.
Related Blog Posts
Understanding Skill Mismatches and Regional Mobility
Larissa Marioni
Adrian Pabst
22 Apr 2024
4 min read
What Can Be Done To Better Protect Children and Young People From Serious Safeguarding Incidents?
Sophie Kitson
Ekaterina Aleynikova
19 Feb 2024
9 min read
Putting Increased Pressure on a Fragile System Does Not Help
Claudine Bowyer-Crane
Cecilia Zuniga-Montanez
15 Jan 2024
5 min read
Related Projects
Catch Up Literacy Pilot Study
Better Start Bradford
Related News
Press Release: Targeted home support could be key in children’s early language development
21 Apr 2021
5 min read
Related Publications
Adam Smith and the Bankers: Retrospect and Prospect
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
On the Promises and Perils of Smithian Growth: From the Pin Factory to AI
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review
Economic Progress and Adam Smith’s Dilemma
04 Jan 2024
National Institute Economic Review