Farewell to confucianism: The modernizing effect of dismantling China's imperial examination system

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bai, Ying
• 署名单位: Chinese University of Hong Kong
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.102382
• 发表日期: 2019
• 关键词: Imperial civil examination; incentive; Modern firms; Overseas study

摘要

This study uses 1899-1908 prefecture-level panel data to assess how the likelihood of passing the civil service examination affected modernization before and after the examination system's abolition. Because higher quotas were assigned to prefectures with an agricultural tax of over 150,000 piculs, we use a regression discontinuity design to generate an instrument that resolves potential endogeneity and ensures robust results. We find that following abolition, prefectures with higher quotas of successful candidates tended to establish more modern firms and send more students for overseas study in Japan. A subsequent analysis using an individual dataset further shows that the skill level of these overseas students increased after abolition, especially in regions with higher per capita quotas. This finding implies that the examination system led to substantial misallocation of talents.