Keywords
JEL : Z - Other Special Topics/Z.Z1 - Cultural Economics • Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology/Z.Z1.Z13 - Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology • Social and Economic StratificationJEL : N - Economic History/N.N7 - Transport, Trade, Energy, Technology, and Other Services/N.N7.N77 - Africa • Oceania
economic development.
economic development
JEL : Z - Other Special Topics/Z.Z1 - Cultural Economics • Economic Sociology • Economic Anthropology/Z.Z1.Z12 - Religion
newspaper readership
historical persistence
JEL : O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth/O.O3 - Innovation • Research and Development • Technological Change • Intellectual Property Rights/O.O3.O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences • Diffusion Processes
political participation
printing press
[SHS.ECO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Economies and finances
Protestant missions
JEL : N - Economic History/N.N3 - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy/N.N3.N37 - Africa • Oceania
JEL : D - Microeconomics/D.D7 - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making/D.D7.D72 - Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
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https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01071879https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01071879/document
Abstract
This article delves into the relationship between newspaper readership and civic attitudes, and its effect on economic development. To this end, we investigate the long-term consequences of the introduction of the printing press in the 19th century. In sub-Saharan Africa, Protestant missionaries were the first both to import the printing press technology and to allow the indigenous population to use it. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant missions in 1903. This dataset includes, for each mission station, the geographic location and its characteristics, as well as the educational and health-related investments undertaken by the mission. We show that, within regions located close to missions, proximity to a printing press significantly increases newspaper readership today. We also document a strong association between proximity to a printing press and contemporary economic development. Our results are robust to a variety of identification strategies.Date
2014-10Type
Preprints, Working Papers, ...Identifier
oai:HAL:hal-01071879v1https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01071879
https://hal-sciencespo.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01071879/document
hal-01071879
SCIENCESPO : 2441/453m2eks408pdoss8agfiaocu6
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