2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/418883Child labors effect on academic achievement is estimated using unique data on third and fourth graders in nine Latin American countries. Cross country variation in truancy regulations provides an exogenous shift in the ages of children normally in these grades, providing exogenous variation in the opportunity cost of children's time. Least squares estimates suggest that child labor lowers test scores, but those estimates are biased toward zero. Corrected estimates are still negative and statistically significant. Children working 1 standard deviation above the mean have average scores that are 16 percent lower on mathematics examinations and 11 percent lower on language examinations, consistent with the estimates of the adverse impact of child labor on returns to schooling.application/pdftext/plainCC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igoWorld BankADVERSE CONSEQUENCESADVERSE EFFECTSAVAILABILITY OF BOOKSBASIC SKILLSCAPITAL INVESTMENTCAPITAL INVESTMENTSCHILD LABORCHILD LABOR LAWSCHILD LABOURCHILDREN IN SCHOOLSCLASSROOMCLASSROOM ENVIRONMENTCOGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENTCOGNITIVE SKILLSCOMPREHENSIVE REVIEWCOMPULSORY SCHOOLINGCURRICULUMDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMICSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEDUCATIONAL POLICIESEMPLOYMENTENROLLMENTENROLLMENT BY AGEENROLLMENT RATESFAMILY LABORGIRLSHUMAN CAPITALINCOMEINSTRUCTIONLABOR ECONOMICSLABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR LAWSLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLABOR SUPPLYLABORERSLEARNINGLEARNING ACHIEVEMENTLEARNING OUTCOMESLEGAL GUARDIANSLITERACYLIVING STANDARDSMARKET WAGEMARKET WAGESMATHEMATICSNUMERACYNUTRITIONOLDER CHILDRENOPPORTUNITY COSTSPARENTAL EDUCATIONPARENTSPARTICIPATION RATESPOLITICAL ECONOMYPRIMARY ENROLLMENTPRIMARY ENROLLMENT RATESPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIMARY SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENTPRIMARY SCHOOLINGPRODUCTION PROCESSPRODUCTIVITYQUALITY OF EDUCATIONREADINGRURAL AREASRURAL CHILDRENRURAL GIRLSSCHOOL ATTENDANCESCHOOL PRINCIPALSSCHOOL QUALITYSCHOOL TIMESCHOOLINGSCHOOLSSMALL SCHOOLSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSTUDENT ACHIEVEMENTTEACHER TRAININGTEACHERSTEXTBOOKSWAGESWORKING CHILDRENWORKING HOURSYOUNG CHILDRENYOUNGER CHILDRENJournal Article