Finding Eldorado: Slavery and Long-run Development in Colombia

Daron Acemoglu, Camilo García-Jimeno and James Robinson

No 18177, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Slavery has been a major institution of labor coercion throughout history. Colonial societies used slavery intensively across the Americas, and slavery remained prevalent in most countries after independence from the European powers. We investigate the impact of slavery on long-run development in Colombia. Our identification strategy compares municipalities that had gold mines during the 17th and 18th centuries to neighboring municipalities without gold mines. Gold mining was a major source of demand for slave labor during colonial times, and all colonial gold mines are now depleted. We find that the historical presence of slavery is associated with increased poverty and reduced school enrollment, vaccination coverage and public good provision. We also find that slavery is associated with higher contemporary land inequality.

JEL-codes: H41 N96 O10 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-his and nep-lam
Note: EFG LE POL
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (102)

Published as Acemoglu, Daron & García-Jimeno, Camilo & Robinson, James A., 2012. "Finding Eldorado: Slavery and long-run development in Colombia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 534-564.

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