Inequality, low-intensity immigration and human capital formation in the regions of Chile, 1820-1939

Abstract

This article traces inequality and numeracy development in the regions of Chile during the 19th and early 20th century. Inequality, measured with anthropometric methods, was associated with a lower speed of human capital formation. Not all talents received the necessary education to make full use of their talent for the regional economy, especially in the south. However, in its northern regions we find that Chile was relatively equal and numerate during the 19 th century, and the south converged somewhat during this period. In addition, we study the correlates of low-intensity immigration in Chile. Regions with a relatively high share of North European migrants developed faster in terms of numeracy.

Leader selection and why it matters: Education and the endogeneity of favouritism in 11 African countries

“…Years of schooling measures the highest grade or level of education the individual has completed 19 . Numeracy, a core component of human capital, captures the output of schooling by measuring the ability to count (for detail regarding the measurement, see the online appendix of Baten & Llorca‐Jaña, 2021). 20 Finally, we also include the Gini index, which measures inequality in education (for more detail see Thomas et al, 2001).…”

“…Although this method is mostly used for pre‐twentieth century periods, it has been used to show that even for developing countries in the twentieth century the correlation between innumeracy and age‐heaping was high (2009). For more detail about the age‐heaping method and the related literature, see the online Appendix in Baten & Llorca‐Jaña (2021).…”