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

Jaime Reis and Nuno Palma

Economics Discussion Paper Series from Economics, The University of Manchester

Abstract: Do countries with less democratic forms of government necessarily have lower literacy rates as a consequence? Using a random sample of more than 9000 individuals from military archives in 20th century Portugal, we show that 20-year old males were 50% more likely to end up literate under a nondemocratic regime than under a more 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 relative success of the authoritarian regime in promoting basic education.

JEL-codes: H41 I24 I25 N33 N34 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-04, Revised 2021-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cul
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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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 (2018)
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:man:sespap:1805

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