Valentina Duque

Research Focus

Valentina Duque is an economist working at the intersection of health and development economics. Her research explores how public policies and other events influence the outcomes of children and families in developing countries, with a special focus on estimating long run and intergenerational impacts.

My plans for the fellowship period

During my fellowship, I will work on three projects:

1. Housing policies.

Using a unique housing relocation program in Colombia that randomized 30,000 housing units to low-income families in desirable areas of municipalities, I investigate the potential impacts of the program on children’s learning and health as well as explore neighborhood-, school-, and family-level mechanisms.

2. The “Bogota Study”.

The first RCT in the developing world that provided nutritional supplementation and psychological stimulation early in life was the “Bogota Study” of 1973. While the short-run benefits on children and the home environment have been documented in studies published 30+ years ago, follow-up has not been possible because the original records of program participants were lost. After reconstructing the original sample of participants, I will study the intergenerational impacts of nutrition, stimulation, and both interventions on socioeconomic outcomes.

3. Childcare policies.

I have constructed a unique dataset on the rollout of “Hogares Comunitarios de Bienestar”, Colombia’s publicly funded childcare created in 1987 to promote female employment and children’s nutrition and stimulation, and which currently serves 1M children. I plan to link these historical data to a new longitudinal “Census of the Poor,” to study the life-cycle impacts on eligible children.

How will my work change children’s and youth’s lives?

The findings of my research will help shape policies that have the potential of transforming the lives of children, especially those in the most deprived contexts of the world.

1. The Effects of Free Homes on Children

We provide the first experimental evidence on how housing relocation programs that move families to better neighborhoods can influence the outcomes of children in the developing world. We demonstrate that these policies can have large intergenerational impacts on education and health, breaking the cycle of poverty, and that access to better schools and neighborhoods represent key mechanisms driving these changes.

2. The “Bogota Study”

By reconstructing the original sample of participants, my study provides ground-breaking evidence on how in-utero nutritional supplementation, cognitive stimulation up to age 3, and the interaction of both interventions can influence participants’ outcomes up to age 50, as well as their children’s outcomes. I expect that the findings of my research will provide further justification for expanding early childhood services targeting disadvantaged children across the world.

3. Long-run Effects of Childcare Programs

We provide the first evidence on how public childcare programs in low- and middle-income countries can boost children’s education, health, and socioeconomic outcomes up to age 25.