Can Autocracy Promote Literacy? Evidence from a Cultural Alignment Success Story

Nuno Palma and Jaime Reis
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Jaime Reis: ICS, University of Lisbon

No 127, Working Papers from European Historical Economics Society (EHES)

Abstract: Do countries with less democratic forms of government necessarily have lower literacy rates as a consequence? Using a random sample of 4,600+ individuals from military archives in Portugal, we show that 20-year old males were twice as likely to end up literate under an authoritarian regime than under a democratic one. Our results are robust to controlling for a host of factors including economic growth, the disease environment, and regional fixed-effects. We argue for a political economy and cultural explanation for the success of the authoritarian regime in promoting basic education.

Keywords: Anthropometrics; economic history of education; public schooling provison; political economy of development. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 I24 I25 N33 N34 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2018-03
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Can autocracy promote literacy? Evidence from a cultural alignment success story (2021)
Working Paper: Can Autocracy Promote Literacy? Evidence from a Cultural Alignment Success Story (2021)
Working Paper: Can autocracy promote literacy? evidence from a cultural alignment success story (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hes:wpaper:0127

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