Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP8589
Authors: Graziella Bertocchi; Arcangelo Dimico
Abstract: We investigate the long term determinants of political and economic outcomes over a new data set composed of Mississippi counties. We analyze the effect of disfranchisement on voting registration at the end of the nineteenth century (1896-9), as well as the impact of voting registration on education outcomes at different points in time, namely in 1917 and in the 1950s. Finally, we turn to the determinants of a broad array of development indicators for the year 1960 and for the 1960-2000 period. Our main conclusion is that race, rather than political institutions and education policies, is the main force driving the above outcomes.
Keywords: development; education; inequality; institutions; race
JEL Codes: E25; H52; J15; N31; O11; P16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| race (J15) | black voting registration (K16) |
| disfranchisement (K16) | black education outcomes (I24) |
| race (J15) | long-term development indicators (O15) |
| black voting registration (K16) | black education outcomes (I24) |
| black education outcomes (I24) | long-term development indicators (O15) |