Pre-colonial institutions and economic development in Latin America: Evidence from a new ethnic homeland dataset

Aldo Elizalde and Sotiris Kampanelis

Economics Letters, 2025, vol. 254, issue C

Abstract: This paper examines the effects of pre-colonial institutions on economic development in Latin America using historical ethnic homelands as the unit of analysis. We construct a newly digitised and georeferenced map of 257 ethnic homelands. Our results show a strong and positive relationship between pre-colonial institutions and contemporary economic development. Beyond the role of pre-existing institutions, our dataset provides a foundation for future research on long-run development in Latin America.

Keywords: Pre-colonial institutions; Ethnic homelands; Development; Latin America (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:254:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525003192

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112482

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