Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16976
Authors: Monica Bozzano; Gabriele Cappelli; Michelangelo Vasta
Abstract: This paper contributes to the literature on the determinants of the expansion of mass schooling and the long-term legacy of educational institutions. Based on a new provincial-level dataset for Italy in the period 1861-1911, we argue that different models of schooling provision adopted by the different pre-unification polities influenced primary-education organization across macro-regions up to WWI. As a result, school access and the capability to generate literacy given current rates of enrolment differed substantially, with the Northern regions aiming to increase schooling for all, while the Centre and the South implemented a more elitist model.
Keywords: mass schooling; education; literacy; economic history; italy; legacy; institutions
JEL Codes: E02; H75; I25; N33
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Increasing class size by 1 standard deviation (approximately 93 pupils per teacher) (A21) | Increase in gross enrollment rate (GER) by 14 percentage points (I24) |
| Reducing class size by one standard deviation (C92) | Reduction in GER-literacy gap by 67 percentage points (I24) |
| Increasing expenditure per pupil by one standard deviation (approximately 13 lire) (H52) | Reduction in GER-literacy gap by 25 percentage points (I24) |
| Increase of 114 percentage points in early 19th-century literacy (I21) | Additional 108 percentage points in GER (I24) |