Econometrica: Nov, 2010, Volume 78, Issue 6

The Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA8121
p. 1863-1903

Melissa Dell

This study utilizes regression discontinuity to examine the long‐run impacts of the , an extensive forced mining labor system in effect in Peru and Bolivia between 1573 and 1812. Results indicate that a effect lowers household consumption by around 25% and increases the prevalence of stunted growth in children by around 6 percentage points in subjected districts today. Using data from the Spanish Empire and Peruvian Republic to trace channels of institutional persistence, I show that the 's influence has persisted through its impacts on land tenure and public goods provision. districts historically had fewer large landowners and lower educational attainment. Today, they are less integrated into road networks and their residents are substantially more likely to be subsistence farmers.

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