Since 1997, the Canadian province of Quebec has put in place a heavily subsidized universal childcare program for all children under the school age. The present paper examines how the level of competition among individual providers associates with the quality of childcare in Quebec. The quality of childcare is measured by the number of violations and penalties recorded in the inspections conducted by the Quebec Ministry of Family Affairs. The analysis indicates that the intensity of parental competition for daycare spots, as opposed to childcare centres’ competition to attract parents, negatively associates with the quality of childcare. Critically, this association is mainly driven by less affluent neighbourhoods. In addition, these associations are found to be stronger for more serious violations. The policy implications for both childcare quality and childcare equality are discussed.

中文翻译：

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竞争和儿童保育质量：来自魁北克的证据

自1997年以来，加拿大魁北克省为所有学龄以下儿童实施了一项高额补贴的全民儿童保育计划。本文探讨了个体提供者之间的竞争程度与魁北克省儿童保育质量的关系。托儿服务的质量是通过魁北克家庭事务部检查中记录的违规和处罚数量来衡量的。分析表明，与托儿中心吸引家长的竞争相比，家长对日托名额的竞争激烈，与托儿服务的质量呈负相关。至关重要的是，这种关联主要是由不太富裕的社区推动的。此外，这些协会被发现对于更严重的违规行为更强大。