The Search for Spices and Souls: Catholic Missions as Colonial State in the Philippines

Abstract

A growing literature posits that colonial Christian missions brought schooling to the colonies, improving human capital in ways that persist to this day. But in some places, they did much more. This paper argues that colonial Catholic missions in the Philippines functioned as state-builders, establishing law and order and building fiscal and infrastructural capacities in territories they controlled. The mission-as-state was the result of a bargain between the Catholic missions and the Spanish colonial government: missionaries converted the population and engaged in state-building, whereas the colonial government reaped the benefits of state expansion while staying in the capital. Exposure to these Catholic missions-as-state then led to long-run improvements in state capacity and development. I find that municipalities that had a Catholic mission have higher levels of state capacity and development today. A variety of mechanisms—religious competition, education, urbanization, and structural transformation—explain these results.

Implementation of Islamic Higher Education Development Management in Indonesia

“…The community's response to the necessity to establish religious life in the nation and the influence of renewal concepts constitute the second external component. Muslim philosophy in Indonesia (Dulay, 2022). The existence of Islamic postsecondary institutions in society is essentially a result of a long-held desire among Muslims in Indonesia.…”

Encomienda, the Colonial State, and Long-Run Development in Colombia

“…Villages exposed to the former for longer periods show higher levels of development, including better economic outcomes, public goods, and redistribution, over 150 years. Dulay (2022) shows that 16 th -17 th century Catholic missions in the Philippines established law and order, collected local taxes, and provided some essential public goods in territories they controlled, with positive effects on state capacity and levels of development today. Closer to home, Acemoglu, García-Jimeno, and Robinson (2015) show that local state capacity is a first-order determinant of public goods provision and prosperity in Colombian municipalities.…”

Conceptualization of Chavez Cross-Cultural Community Extension Theory

“…The seculars of the colonial government in the capital were able to accumulate economic wealth while allowing missions to handle the actual business of colonial expansion, and this arrangement was the result of a bargain between the missionaries and the colonial government. Missionaries were able to convert the local population (Dulay, 2022). Yet, in behalf of the church, they think that they are not receiving enough acknowledgment or appreciation from the government.…”