Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP14261
Authors: Brian Ahearn; Alexia Delfino; Alessandro Nuvolari
Abstract: We re-examine the causes and interpretation of age-heaping in a case study of nineteenth century Italy. Italian census data allow us to calculate age-heaping measures by province, education, gender, and marital status. Our results validate the use of age-heaping as a proxy for human capital, but also reveal anomalies difficult to reconcile with a pure numeracy interpretation. Alongside individual cognitive ability, the census data clearly suggest a role for contextual factors in shaping age-heaping patterns. Direct evidence from Italian social and political history buttresses the case for culture and state capacity as determinants of age-heaping. Age-heaping and illiteracy are well correlated because both are reflections of an underlying process of modernisation, a process which, in nineteenth century Italy, was slow and incomplete.
Keywords: ageheaping; numeracy; human capital; Italy
JEL Codes: N33; J24
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| ageheaping (J11) | literacy rates (I24) |
| cognitive skills (G53) | accurate age reporting (C80) |
| cultural factors (Z10) | ageheaping (J11) |
| state capacity (H11) | ageheaping (J11) |
| education (I29) | ageheaping (J11) |
| ageheaping (J11) | modernization (O14) |
| state capacity and cultural factors (Z18) | ageheaping (J11) |
| north-south gradient in ageheaping (J19) | accuracy of age reporting (C83) |