Home / Repository / JA / PP_NIC_2026_674
ja

Reproducibility package for Texting Parents About Early Child Development: Behavioral Changes And Unintended Social Effects

2026
Get Reproducibility Package
Reference ID
PP_NIC_2026_674
Author(s)
Patrick Premand, Oscar Barrera Rodriguez, Karen Macours, Renos Vakis
Collections
Journal articles
Metadata
JSON
Created on
Jun 05, 2026
Last modified
Jun 05, 2026
Page views
5
Downloads
1
  • Overview
  • Reproducibility Package
  • Description
  • Scope and coverage
  • Disclaimer
  • Access and rights
  • Contacts
  • Information on metadata

    • Overview

    Abstract

    Parenting interventions have the potential to improve early childhood development. Text messages are considered a promising channel to diffuse parenting information at low cost. This paper tests whether sending text messages about parenting practices impacts early childhood development. Households in rural Nicaragua were randomly assigned to receive messages about nutrition, health, stimulation, and the home environment. The intervention led to significant changes in self-reported parenting practices. However, it did not translate into improvements in children’s cognitive development. When local opinion leaders were randomly exposed to the same text message intervention, parental investments declined and children’s outcomes deteriorated. These negative effects were strongest for children of the least educated caregivers. Since interactions between parents and leaders about child development also decreased, the negative effects may have resulted from a crowding-out of efforts by local leaders.

    Reproducibility Package

    Scripts
    Get Reproducibility Package
    File name
    PP_NIC_2026_674
    Zip package
    PP_NIC_2026_674.zip
    Title
    Reproducibility package for Texting Parents About Early Child Development: Behavioral Changes And Unintended Social Effects
    Date
    2026-06
    Dependencies
    Stata dependencies are listed in the ado folder.
    Instructions
    See README in reproducibility package.
    Notes
    Computational reproducibility verified by Development Impact (DECDI) Analytics team, World Bank.
    Source code repository
    Repository name URI
    Reproducible Research Repository (World Bank) https://reproducibility.worldbank.org
    Software
    Name
    Stata
    Version
    19.5

    Reproducibility

    Technology environment

    Paper exhibits were reproduced on a computer with the following specifications:
    • OS: Windows 11 Enterprise
    • Processor: Intel(R) Xeon(R) Gold 5218 CPU @ 2.30GHz (2.30 GHz) (2 processors)
    • Memory available: 16 GB
    Technology requirements

    Run time ~ 5 minutes
    Reproduction instructions

    To reproduce the findings in this paper, a replicator must:

    1. Secure Access to Data: Access the datasets not included in the package. See the Datasets section for more details.
    2. Run the Package:
    • Open the script master do file, change the directory on line 55, and run it. This will install the required packages and generate all the exhibits.

    Since all the data is not included, the package includes the outputs produced by the authors, which can be used to review the results presented in the paper.

    Data

    Datasets
    Name
    Replication Data for: Texting Parents about Early Child Development
    Note
    Primary survey data collected by the authors in Nicaragua as technical support to the Ministry of the Family (Mifan). Survey data collected by CIERUNIC; baseline in Fall 2014 and follow-up in July–August 2015, across 97 rural villages in four municipalities (Totogalpa, Telpaneca, Yalagüina, Palacagüina). Text-message and quiz log data provided by the platform operator (Cronos Ltd., mobile service via Telefónica/Movistar). Five files are included: final_nicaSMS.dta (endline outcomes, treatment assignment, and control variables), baseline_nica_nonames_balance.dta (baseline child, caregiver, and household characteristics), trafic_bycontent.dta (weekly quiz response counts aggregated by message content arm), trafico_aggregado.dta (message-level log of the text-messaging platform), and Assignment.dta (crosswalk linking platform device identifier to survey household identifier). All files located in data/.
    Access policy
    Data is forthcoming in the World Bank Microdata Library.
    Citation
    Barrera-Rodríguez, O., Macours, K., Premand, P., and Vakis, R. 2026. "Replication Data for: Texting Parents about Early Child Development" [dataset]. Forthcoming in World Bank Microdata Library.
    Data statement

    All data is not yet publicly available but is expected to be made available through the World Bank Microdata Library in the future

    Description

    Output
    Type
    Journal Article
    Title
    Texting Parents About Early Child Development: Behavioral Changes And Unintended Social Effects
    Description
    Journal Articles
    Authors
    Author Affiliation Email
    Patrick Premand World Bank ppremand@worldbank.org
    Oscar Barrera Rodriguez University College Dublin oscar.barrerarodriguez@ucd.ie
    Karen Macours Paris School of Econmics karen.macours@psemail.eu
    Renos Vakis World Bank rvakis@worldbank.org
    Date of production

    2026-06-05

    Scope and coverage

    Geographic locations
    Location Code
    Nicaragua NIC
    Keywords
    Early Childhood Development Parenting Textmessages Behavioral Change Field Experiment
    Topics
    ID Topic Parent topic ID Vocabulary Vocabulary URI
    H23 Externalities • Redistributive Effects • Environmental Taxes and Subsidies H2 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    I15 Health and Economic Development I1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    J13 Fertility • Family Planning • Child Care • Children • Youth J1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)
    O15 Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration O1 Journal of Economic Literature (JEL)

    Disclaimer

    Disclaimer

    The materials in the reproducibility packages are distributed as they were prepared by the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this event do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, the Executive Directors of the World Bank, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the materials included in the reproducibility package.

    Access and rights

    License
    Name URI
    MIT License https://opensource.org/license/mit
    World Bank IGO Rider https://github.com/worldbank/metadata-editor/blob/main/WB-IGO-RIDER.md

    Contacts

    Contacts
    Name Affiliation Email
    Patrick Premand World Bank ppremand@worldbank.org
    Reproducibility WBG World Bank reproducibility@worldbank.org

    Information on metadata

    Producers
    Name Abbreviation Affiliation Role
    Reproducibility WBG DECDI World Bank - Development Impact Department Verification and preparation of metadata
    Date of Production

    2026-06-05
    Document version

    1
    Back to Catalog