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Legacy of Colonial Education: Unveiling Persistence Mechanisms in the D.R. Congo

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Álvarez-Aragón

    (Development Finance and Public Policies, University of Namur)

  • Catherine Guirkinger

  • Paola Villar

Abstract

The mechanisms that contribute to the enduring effects of colonial investments in education on human capital today are not well understood.This paper addresses this gap by examining the case of colonial Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We first document the enduring effects of colonial education and then analyze both demand-side channels and supply-side mechanisms. Using detailed contemporary and historical microdata,our results show that exposure to colonial Catholic and Protestant missionary education led to different demand-side mechanisms (intergenerational transmission and educational mobility triggered by missions). However,the quantitative importance of these channels seems limited in this context. On the supply side, we examine the dynamics of school location after independence. Our results suggest that the persistence of educational outcomes is primarily due to the concentration of contemporary schools around historical missions. This agglomeration effect appears to be driven by competition among religious schools of different denominations (and possibly by structural change in the vicinity of Catholic missions). As a result, girls living farther from historical missions have to travel greater distances to reach schools, which affects their enrollment more than that of boys.

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Álvarez-Aragón & Catherine Guirkinger & Paola Villar, 2023. "Legacy of Colonial Education: Unveiling Persistence Mechanisms in the D.R. Congo," DeFiPP Working Papers 2305, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    • Handle: RePEc:nam:defipp:2305
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    File URL: https://defipp.unamur.be/wp/defipp_wp_2023_5.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    2. Calvi, Rossella & Mantovanelli, Federico G., 2018. "Long-term effects of access to health care: Medical missions in colonial India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 285-303.
    3. Black, Sandra E. & Devereux, Paul J., 2011. "Recent Developments in Intergenerational Mobility," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 16, pages 1487-1541, Elsevier.
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    1. Ben Salah, Mhamed & Chambru, Cédric & Fourati, Maleke, 2024. "The colonial legacy of education: Evidence from Tunisia," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(4), pages 773-792.
    2. Pierre Donat-Bouillud & Coralie Hirschi & Etienne Le Rossignol, 2025. "Educational Legacies of Christian Missions: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of the Congo," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 25013, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.

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