Literacy in Spain in the 19th century: An econometric analysis

Rafael Barquín (), Pedro Pérez and Basilio Sanz-Carnero ()
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Pedro Pérez: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain

No 1615, Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) from Asociación Española de Historia Económica

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to identify variables that could explain Spanish urban literacy growth between 1860 and 1910. We have made use of census data and other public sources. One of the main obstacles is to find appropriate city definition criteria. We have addressed this issue by resorting to the relevant bibliography. A priori, expected key variables are the Church influence, whether or not the city is a provincial capital, the access to the railway system, the mining and industrial activity and, above all, the literacy programs undertaken by Liberal governments. Results of several econometric models - panel data based considering cross and time fixed effects - show firstly, that local idiosyncratic factors were sizeable. Secondly, in the literacy process the educational offer was more decisive than the personal economic incentives, especially among girls. And finally, that Church influence largely explains the literacy levels at the middle of 19th century, as well as its decline in the second half of that century.

Keywords: Literacy; Schooling; Church; Panel Data Models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C23 I25 N33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2016-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse and nep-his
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