Abstract.Day2. Narayana

Returns to Public Investment on Children in India: Evidence for Heckman's Curve by Using NTA Methodology

M. R. Narayana

Public investment on child education, health and nutrition, protection and participation is consolidated and presented by child budget in India at national and sub-national levels, consistent with the UN-Convention on the rights of the child, and UN-SDGs as they are related children. However, lack of assessment of outcomes of investment or returns to investment on children is a research gap but a policy imperative. This paper aims to fill in this gap by distinguishing age-specificities (early, middle and later childhood) in child budgeting to assess the return to public investment on children in the framework of Heckman's curve (2008) which shows that earlier the investment, the greater the return on investment. Does this pattern of investment and return on child investment hold for India? NTA-based evidence generated in this paper is useful to answer such questions and to offer a new policy perspective for child development.