These estimates imply that successful adolescent remediation strategies for disadvantaged
children should focus on fostering noncognitive skills. Investments in the early years are
important for the formation of adult cognitive skills. Furthermore, policy simulations from
the model suggest that there is no tradeoff between equity and efficiency. The optimal
investment strategy to maximize aggregate schooling attainment or to minimize aggregate
crime is to target the most disadvantaged at younger ages.
Accounting for both cognitive and noncognitive skills makes a difference. An empirical
model that ignores the impact of noncognitive skills on productivity and outcomes yields the
opposite conclusion that an economically efficient policy that maximizes aggregate schooling
would perpetuate initial advantages.
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