Attached Once, Attached Forever: The Persistent Effects of Concertaje in Ecuador

Alex Rivadeneira () and Gustavo Canavire Bacarreza ()
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Alex Rivadeneira: Banco de Mexico
Gustavo Canavire Bacarreza: World Bank

No 18614, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: This paper studies the long-run intergenerational effects of concertaje, a widespread forced labor system in the Americas from the Spanish colonial era that coerced indigenous workers in rural estates (haciendas) after causing them to become indebted. We collected and digitized the universe of historical individual-level tax records (1800) in what is today Ecuador and connected them to likely descendants using the universe of contemporary (2010s) tax returns and census registries via surnames. We find that descendants from concertaje earn 16 percent less formal labor income vis-Ã -vis descendants from uncoerced indigenous workers. Because of the distortions created by the institution, descendants from concertaje are less educated, more likely to work in agriculture and the informal sector, and less prone to migrate. However, the effects of concertaje on immigrants are milder, suggesting migration acted as a mitigation channel.

Keywords: institutions; persistence; forced labor; intergenerational mobility; Ecuador (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J62 N36 O10 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-iue and nep-mig
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18614

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