Working Papers
Exploring Social Preferences Formation in Young Children Using a Longitudinal Survey from Thailand
Suparee Boonmanunt, Wasinee Jantorn, Varunee Khruapradit and Weerachart T. Kilenthong,
PIER Discussion Paper, No.257, June 17, 2026.
This study investigates children’s social preferences and their associated factors using a longitudinal dataset from an ongoing early childhood panel in rural Thailand with rich information on children, family structure, caregivers, and households. We find several factors, from internalizing behavior problems and child order to family structure and household donation decisions, are correlated with children’s social preferences, whereas other variables, such as screen time, socialization activities, and caregivers’ characteristics, are not.
Parenting Home Visitation versus Cash Transfers for Preschoolers: An RCT in Rural Thailand
Weerachart T. Kilenthong, Sartja Duangchaiyoosook, Wasinee Jantorn and Varunee Khruapradit,
PIER Discussion Paper, No.254, June 5, 2026.
This paper evaluates the impact of a weekly parenting home-visiting program based on the Reach Up curriculum and a cash transfer, using a randomized controlled trial in Thailand. The targeted children were preschoolers, with an average age of 36 months at the start of the parenting program. The intent-to-treat effect of the 10-month parenting program is positive and significant, with an effect size of approximately 0.13–0.16 SD, whereas the cash transfer is positive but insignificant. Treatment-on-the-treated effects reveal that each home visit improves child outcomes by 0.004 SD. The parenting program is more beneficial for younger and disadvantaged children, as measured by having special needs, less educated parents, lower household wealth, and fewer books at home, whereas the cash transfer is more effective for younger children, children with special needs, and boys.
Roles of Parental Risk and Time Preferences in Parental Investment and Aspirations
Weerachart T. Kilenthong, Sartja Duangchaiyoosook and Suparee Boonmanunt,
PIER Discussion Paper, No.249, May 15, 2026.
This paper examines how parents’ risk and time preferences shape their parental investment and aspirations for children’s education and occupations, using a longitudinal survey conducted in rural Thailand. We jointly estimate risk and time preference parameters based on economic theory, using incentivized experiments and incorporating heterogeneous individual background consumption. The first key finding is that parents view parental investment as a risky activity from the early childhood stage onward. Second, parents value later investments more than earlier ones. Third, parents perceive achieving educational success and pursuing a STEM career as risky endeavors for their children. This paper also finds that children with divorced parents tend to receive less parental investment, and their parents expect less from them.
A Randomized Evaluation of an On-Site Training for Kindergarten Teachers in Rural Thailand
Weerachart T. Kilenthong, Sartja Duangchaiyoosook, Wasinee Jantorn and Varunee Khruapradit,
PIER Discussion Paper, No.215, Feb 6, 2024.
This study evaluates the effectiveness of intensive and hands-on on-site training for preschool teachers using a randomized controlled trial in rural Thailand. The main finding is that the intervention led to an increase in the effectiveness of the classroom in terms of children’s cognitive skills by almost 50 percent relative to the control group. The on-site training intervention is cost effective, costing 32.7 USD per student. Further investigation reveals that its specificity regarding the teaching approach or curriculum and detailed weekly teaching plans could be critical to its success.
Heterogeneous Returns to Education across Hukou-Migration Subgroups in China
Juan Huang and Weerachart T. Kilenthong,
PIER Discussion Paper, No.210, Nov 13, 2023.
This paper uses the China Household Income Project 2018 dataset to estimate returns to education for various Hukou-migration subgroups. We overcome the endogeneity problem of years of schooling using an instrument based on the Great Expansion of Higher Education policy. Our results indicate that the highest returns are for urban native workers (27.4%), followed by urban Hukou-converted (25.0%) and rural native workers (14.7%). In contrast, the returns to education for rural-urban migrant workers are insignificant. Further analyses suggest that Hukou conversion significantly increased the returns to education for rural-origin people by enabling them access to better job opportunities.
Segregated Security Exchanges with Ex Ante Rights to Trade: A Market-Based Solution to Collateral-Constrained Externalities
Weerachart T. Kilenthong and Robert M. Townsend, NBER Working Paper, May 2014.
This paper studies a competitive general equilibrium model with default and endogenous collateralized contracts. The possibility of trade in spot markets creates externalities, as spot prices and the bindingness of collateral constraints interact. We propose a market based solution which overcomes the externalities problem and obviates the needs for any government policy intervention. If agents are allowed to contract ex ante on market fundamentals determining the state-contingent spot prices used to unwind collateral, over and above contracting on true underlying states of the world, then standard existence and welfare theorems apply, that is, competitive equilibria are equivalent with Pareto optima.