The uneven transition towards universal literacy in Spain, 1860-1930

Francisco Beltrán Tapia, Alfonso Díez-Minguela, Julio Martinez-Galarraga and Daniel Tirado-Fabregat
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Alfonso Díez-Minguela: University of Valencia
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Alfonso Díez Minguela ()

No 173, Working Papers from European Historical Economics Society (EHES)

Abstract: This study provides new evidence on the advance of literacy in Spain during the period 1860-1930. A novel dataset, built with historical information (over 8,000 municipalities) from the Spanish population censuses, enables us to describe this process in detail from the end of the Ancien Régime to the Second Republic. The study thus presents stylized facts at a very low level of geographic aggregation, thereby permitting a closer examination of the main patterns. Overall, spatial differences in literacy were sizeable during the whole nineteenth century. Furthermore, these disparities were only significantly reduced between 1900 and 1930 when the growing demand for these basic skills were met by a stronger government intervention.

Keywords: Literacy; Regional Disparities; Nineteenth Century; Spain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 N33 N93 O15 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2019-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hes:wpaper:0173

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