The effects of an early childhood education care program on child development as a function of length of exposure in Ecuador

Investment in early childhood education can reduce the inequality gap, promote schooling, and reduce criminal activity. Centros de Desarrollo Infantil (CDI) is a public program that provides early childhood education to children in vulnerable families at no cost. This paper uses a treatment intensity analysis to identify the effects of exposure to a CDI program on children's cognitive, socio-emotional, and nutritional development. We analyzed 16,322 observations collected from 2016 to 2018 in six different evaluations in Quito Centro, Ecuador. The results indicated CDI's positive and significant effects on cognitive and socio-emotional development as time exposure to the program increased. There was no significant gain in nutritional development due to program exposure.