Abstract

"This article documents the positive long-term economic impact of the Jesuit Missions in South America, combining information from historical archives and municipal census data from Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Guarani Jesuit Missions (1609-1767) resulted in income levels that are 10% higher today than in neighboring municipalities. I stress human capital as the main channel of transmission, finding a 10-15% increase in educational attainment. Results are robust to the inclusion of geographic controls, the usage of placebos (abandoned missions) and instrumental variables (historical borders) estimation. Using historical censuses, human capital appears to be even higher when close to missionary districts. Such enduring educational differences are consistent with cultural mechanisms of inter-generational knowledge transmission and occupational persistence through labor specialization and changes in sectoral employment. Additional empirical tests suggest that migration, urbanization and tourism are not driving the results, and that the impact is specific to missions from the Jesuit (as opposed to the Franciscan) order."

Long-Term Effects of the Guarani Missions of the Jesuits

Abstract

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