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

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  • Nuno Palma

    (University of Manchester and CEPR)

  • Jaime Reis

    (ICS, University of Lisbon)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuno Palma & Jaime Reis, 2018. "Can Autocracy Promote Literacy? Evidence from a Cultural Alignment Success Story," Working Papers 0127, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    • Handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0127
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    Cited by:

    1. Cermeño, Alexandra L. & Palma, Nuno & Pistola, Renato, 2023. "Stunting and wasting in a growing economy: biological living standards in Portugal during the twentieth century," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    2. Tomas Cvrcek & Miroslav Zajicek, 2019. "The rise of public schooling in nineteenth-century Imperial Austria: Who gained and who paid?," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 13(3), pages 367-403, September.
    3. Koyama, Mark, 2022. "Introduction to the special issue on culture, institutions, and religion in economic history," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 105-114.
    4. Kedrosky, Davis & Palma, Nuno, 2021. "The Cross of Gold: Brazilian Treasure and the Decline of Portugal," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 574, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    5. Fernández, Martín & Tortorici, Gaspare, 2024. "Male and female self-selection during the Portuguese mass migration, 1885–1930," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    6. Cermeño, Alexandra L. & Palma, Nuno & Pistola, Renato, 2021. "Stunting and wasting in a growing economy:biological living standards in Portugal,1924-1994," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 585, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    7. Cvrcek, Tomas & Zajicek, Miroslav, 2019. "The making of a liberal education: Political economy of the Austrian school reform, 1865 – 1880," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-1.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Anthropometrics; economic history of education; public schooling provison; political economy of development.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development

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