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The Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining Mita
Author(s) -
Dell Melissa
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
econometrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 16.7
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1468-0262
pISSN - 0012-9682
DOI - 10.3982/ecta8121
Subject(s) - regression discontinuity design , subsistence agriculture , educational attainment , empire , consumption (sociology) , economics , demographic economics , geography , persistence (discontinuity) , agricultural economics , socioeconomics , agriculture , economic growth , archaeology , sociology , medicine , social science , geotechnical engineering , pathology , engineering
This study utilizes regression discontinuity to examine the long‐run impacts of the mita , an extensive forced mining labor system in effect in Peru and Bolivia between 1573 and 1812. Results indicate that a mita 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 mita 's influence has persisted through its impacts on land tenure and public goods provision. Mita 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.