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Principal investigator: Adriano Valladão Pires Ribeiro
Article title: THE MISSION: HUMAN CAPITAL TRANSMISSION, ECONOMIC PERSISTENCE, AND CULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA
Author of the article: Felipe Valencia Caicedo
Location of the intervention: Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay
Sample size: 549 municipalities
Sector: Others
Type of Intervention: The impact of the Jesuit missions
Primary variable of interest: Human Capital
Evaluation method: Others – Natural historical experiment
Policy Problem
The transmission of human capital has long-term impacts, being an important factor in explaining future economic outcomes. The Guarani Jesuit Missions, which lasted from 1609 to 1767 in South America, had a primary religious objective, but also invested in education, mainly in the schooling of young people and training for adults. The economic impacts of the missions can still be seen today in the affected localities.
Evaluation Context
The Jesuit Order arrived in South America in 1549 in the city of Salvador, Bahia, and the missions soon spread to various areas of the Portuguese and Spanish empires that are now Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, and Mexico. Although the main objective was the conversion of believers to Christianity, the Jesuits taught children to read, write, and perform basic arithmetic operations, in addition to training adults in masonry, carving, and embroidery. The value of education for the Jesuit Order is also highlighted, being at the technological and cultural forefront of its time with contributions to the arts, music, cartography, linguistics, mathematics, among others. In turn, the Guarani missions were among the Order's most important, with the first mission established in 1609 in the vicinity of Asunción, Paraguay. In total, the Guarani Jesuits founded 30 missions (15 in Argentina, 8 in Paraguay, and 7 in Brazil) and, at their peak, had a population of over 120 people. The area was inhabited by only one indigenous tribe that was in the early stages of development; they had no weapons or iron tools, were not settled in one place, and possessed some techniques for planting corn and cassava. Finally, the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portuguese and Spanish lands occurred in 1767 after political disputes in Europe. By the following year, there were no more Jesuit missionaries in the region, and they never returned.
Intervention Details
To study the long-term effects of the Guarani Jesuit Missions, data from the locations where the missions took place were sought, totaling 549 municipal observations from the 3 countries involved. Historical archives contained the location of the missions, the year of foundation, population, and the work carried out. Information from censuses conducted in Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay in the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries was also used. The most recent information in the area comes from censuses applied in the 21st century. The main variables relate to education, income, geographical conditions, and climatic factors.
Methodology Details
The data highlighted above allow for a causal relationship between the current level of human capital and income of municipalities and the presence or absence of Jesuit missions in the 17th and 18th centuries. This is due to the fact that the expulsion of the Jesuits occurred due to factors external to the mission locations, and the religious intervention took place at an early stage of the local population's development, which further emphasizes its importance for subsequent social, economic, and cultural indicators. The causal link is also supported by other factors. First, historical records suggest that the founding of the missions did not follow any obvious principle, being the result of adventure and randomness. Second, geographical and climatic conditions that could influence the founding and development of the localities, such as altitude and proximity to rivers, were taken into account in the analysis so that their interferences would not be reflected in the results. Finally, there were also missions of other orders, such as the Franciscans, allowing for a comparison of the effects of the interventions between them.
Results
The relationship between the literacy rate of the population aged 15 and over and the distance from the nearest Jesuit mission is negative; that is, the farther a municipality in the region is from a location that housed a mission, the lower the current literacy rate. The estimated effect suggests a reduction in illiteracy of at least 10% for municipalities less than 100 km from a Jesuit mission. The impact is similar when considering the median years of schooling for Brazil; proximity increases the value by almost 15%. Current income and distance from a Jesuit mission also correlate negatively; that is, municipalities with higher incomes are closer to the mission area. Per capita income increases by about 10% in these locations. Next, the Jesuit missions are compared with the Franciscan Guarani missions, since both are Catholic orders that operated in the same area. It is noted that elements such as location, the relationship between indigenous and European populations, and climatic and geographical conditions are common to both missions. On the other hand, the Franciscans did not emphasize the formation of human capital in their conversions. Unlike the municipalities near the Jesuit missions, Franciscan proximity has not had any effect on literacy rates and income today. Among the mechanisms responsible for the persistent difference in human capital and income are occupational specialization and technological adoption. It was found that individuals who participated in religious missions, receiving education and technical training, left agricultural activity to start a craft activity, such as commerce and manufacturing. Furthermore, areas with greater human capital due to the presence of Jesuit interventions were able to incorporate new agricultural technologies and grow more rapidly.
Lessons in Public Policy
The Guarani Jesuit Missions (1609–1767) had a long-term effect, impacting both literacy and schooling as well as income in the localities near the missions. It is also noteworthy that these effects were unique to Jesuit interventions when contrasted with Franciscan ones, especially due to the Jesuits' focus on human capital accumulation. The results reinforce not only the importance of investment in human capital for long-term economic development, but also the historical role of institutions.
Reference
CAICEDO, Felipe V. “The Mission: Human Capital Transmission, Economic Persistence, and Culture in South America”. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 134, Issue 1, February 2019, Pages 507–556, 2018. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
