GOOD, BAD, AND UGLY COLONIAL ACTIVITIES: DO THEY MATTER FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bruhn, Miriam; Gallego, Francisco A.
• 署名单位: The World Bank; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/REST_a_00218
• 发表日期: 2012-05
• 页码: 433-461
• 关键词: institutions; endowments; origins; HISTORY; GROWTH; STATES

摘要

Levels of development vary widely within countries in the Americas. We argue that part of this variation has its roots in the colonial era, when colonizers engaged in different economic activities in different regions of a country. We present evidence consistent with the view that bad activities (those that depended heavily on labor exploitation) led to lower economic development today than good activities (those that did not rely on labor exploitation). Our results also suggest that differences in political representation (but not in income inequality or human capital) could be the intermediating factor between colonial activities and current development.