Peking University Education Forum Lecture No. 289 | Early Childhood Education Promotes High-Quality Economic and Social Development

　　

　　Scott Rozelle

　　Speaker: Scott Rozelle, Professor and Senior Fellow at Stanford University, Co-Director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions

　　Lecture Time: Wednesday, June 5, 2024, 4:00-5:30pm

　　Lecture Venue: Room 209, Graduate School of Education, Peking University

　　Moderator: Liping Ma, Tenured Associate Professor, Graduate School of Education, Peking University

　　

　　Lecture Abstract:

　　This lecture will emphasize why promoting infant and child development in rural areas is crucial for achieving "high-quality development." First, a literature review will demonstrate that a country must have a well-educated workforce to achieve high-quality development and transition from a middle-income to a high-income economy. Second, empirical data will reveal significant urban-rural disparities in education levels. Third, given the high returns to improving early childhood development, closing the urban-rural education gap requires a focus on early childhood development. Fourth, empirical evidence shows that rural infants and young children urgently need attention, and a potential key factor causing this problem is caregivers' lack of responsive caregiving investment in young children. Finally, the positive effects of implementing caregiver training programs in rural China to promote early childhood development will be introduced, arguing that investing in early childhood development and improving education for rural children is an important measure for narrowing the urban-rural gap and achieving high-quality development.

　　

　　Speaker Bio:

　　Scott Rozelle is the Helen C. Farnsworth Professor at Stanford University, Co-Director of the Stanford Center on China's Economy and Institutions, and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). He is a lifelong fellow of the American Economic Association, American Agricultural Economics Association, International Association of Agricultural Economists, and Econometric Society. His primary research areas are development economics, agricultural economics, and resource and environmental economics, with a focus on education, nutrition, and early childhood development. He has published approximately 400 papers in top international journals such as Nature, Science, American Economic Review, and Journal of Economic Literature. He has received the American Agricultural and Applied Economics Association's Lifetime Achievement Award, the Chinese Government's Friendship Award (2008), and the Commemorative Medal awarded by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission in 2019.

　　

　　This lecture is supported by the Huangteng Education Foundation, to which we express our gratitude.