Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/247057 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
EHES Working Papers in Economic History No. 127
Publisher: 
European Historical Economics Society (EHES), s.l.
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.
Subjects: 
Anthropometrics
economic history of education
public schooling provison
political economy of development
JEL: 
H41
I24
I25
N33
N34
O12
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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