Felipe Valencia Caicedo
The Mission: Human Capital Transmission, Economic Persistence, and Culture in South America*
University of British Columbia
article examines longterm consequences historical human capital intervention jesuit order founded religious missions 1609 among guaran modernday argentina brazil paraguay expulsion 1767 missionaries instructed indigenous inhabitants reading writing various crafts using archival records well data individual municipal level show areas former jesuit presencewithin guaran areaeducational attainment higher remains 1015 250 years later educational differences also translated incomes 10 higher today identification positive effect guaran jesuit missions emerges comparing abandoned jesuit missions neighboring franciscan guaran missions enduring effects observed consistent transmission mechanisms structural transformation occupational specialization technology adoption agriculture