Three Essays in Human Capital Formation. from Colonial Institutions in the Americas to Early Catalan Industrialization
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Three essays in human capital formation. From colonial institutions in the Americas to early Catalan industrialization Èric Gómez-i-Aznar Aquesta tesi doctoral està subjecta a la llicència Reconeixement 4.0. Espanya de Creative Commons. Esta tesis doctoral está sujeta a la licencia Reconocimiento 4.0. España de Creative Commons. This doctoral thesis is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Spain License. Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Barcelona Three essays in human capital formation. From colonial institutions in the Americas to early Catalan industrialization Èric Gómez-i-Aznar A thesis submitted to the Department of Economic History, Institutions, Politics and World Economy of the University of Barcelona for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Barcelona, November 2020. Interuniversity PhD Program in Economic History at the University of Barcelona, University Carlos III of Madrid, and University of Valencia Supervisors: Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch Julio Martinez-Galarraga Barcelona, November 2020 2 Contents General acknowledgments.............................................................................................................7 List of abbreviations......................................................................................................................9 List of Figures...............................................................................................................................11 List of Tables................................................................................................................................13 Publications derived from this thesis............................................................................................15 Chapter 1. Introduction................................................................................................................17 1.1 About the concept and the measurement of human capital.......................................18 1.2 The paradox of human capital on the periphery: beyond the British case................20 1.3 Institutions, economic dynamism and human capital...............................................23 1.4 Objectives and the development of the thesis...........................................................26 Chapter 2. Ad maiorem Dei gloriam. Numeracy levels in the Guarani Jesuit missions..............33 2.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................33 2.2 The Guarani Jesuit missions: historical background.................................................37 2.3 A new source for measuring numeracy: los padrones de indios...............................44 2.3.1 Methodology: age-heaping as a proxy for numeracy............................44 2.3.2 Los padrones de indios: population counts in the Jesuit missions........45 2.4 Results.......................................................................................................................50 2.4.1 Age heaping and numeracy in the Guarani Jesuit missions .................50 2.4.2 Beyond the Guaranis and the Jesuits: other territories within the Spanish monarchy...............................................................................................52 2.4.2.1 Indigenous, non-religious settlements: colonial exploitation from south Peru to Louisiana..................................................................52 2.4.2.2 Other religious settlements: Franciscans in California...................55 2.5 Conclusions............................................................................................................58 Appendix................................................................................................................61 3 Chapter 3. Human capital at the beginning of 18th-century Catalonia: age-heaping and numeracy in a changing economy................................................................................................63 3.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................63 3.2 Literature review.......................................................................................................66 3.2.1 Human capital in Europe during the early modern period...................66 3.2.2 Human capital in pre-industrial Spain..................................................67 3.2.3 Human capital in Catalonia during the early modern period...............69 3.3 A new source for measuring numeracy: municipal population registers (padrons)...................................................................................................................72 3.3.1 Methodology..........................................................................................72 3.3.2 Municipal population registers (padrons).............................................74 3.3.3 Localities...............................................................................................77 3.4 Results.....................................................................................................................80 3.4.1 Overall results: Catalonia in the 1720s................................................80 3.4.2 Results by activity sector and professional group.................................83 3.4.3 Inequality and social prestige................................................................85 3.4.4 Was there a gender gap?.......................................................................87 3.5 Conclusions.............................................................................................................90 Appendix.................................................................................................................92 Chapter 4. The Catalan literacy puzzle during industrialization (1860-1930).............................95 4.1 Introduction...............................................................................................................95 4.2 Literary review: primary schooling and literacy in Catalonia..................................97 4.3 Data, methodology and general overview of literacy rates in Catalonia (1860- 1930).......................................................................................................................103 4.4 Male literacy rates in Catalonia at the municipality level (1860-1930)..................108 4.4.1 Literacy rates in 1860: the legacy of the past......................................108 4.4.2 From 1860 to 1900: a geographically even progress of literacy rates.....................................................................................................113 4.4.3 From 1900 to 1930: economic progress, institutional change and improvement in literacy......................................................................117 4.5 The evolution of female literacy in Catalonia, 1860-1930.....................................121 4.6 Conclusions.............................................................................................................129 Appendix.................................................................................................................132 4 Chapter 5. Conclusions...............................................................................................................135 Bibliography...............................................................................................................................141 5 6 General acknowledgments This research is the result of a long journey. Many people helped me along the way, both directly and indirectly, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to them. In particular, I owe an enormous intellectual and personal debt to my two supervisors, Julio Martinez-Galarraga and Miquel Gutiérrez-Poch, whose comments and suggestions taught me a great deal and who always gave me the freedom to set my own research agenda. It was a genuine pleasure to work with them. They always offered me support on a personal level, during both good times and bad times, such as when I experienced the loss of loved ones. There are no words to express my gratitude. I hope to continue working with them on future projects and lines of research. Many of the people who accompanied me on my journey were PhD colleagues and members of the University of Barcelona’s Department of Economic History who always supported me when I needed it or provided me with valuable feedback. These individuals include Marc Badia, Anna Carreras, Sergio Espuelas, María José Fuentes, Alfonso Herranz, José Luís Martínez, Marc Prat, Alba Roldán, Ramon Ramon, Raimon Soler-Becerro and, above all, Josep Maria Benaul, who sadly passed away recently. I would also like to thank the academics who supported me at different stages of my research, including Gabriele Cappelli, Cristián Ducoing, Nikola Koepke, Agustina Reyes, Rodrigo Rivero, Dácil Tania Juif, Julia Sarreal, Sara Torregrosa, Felipe Valencia Caicedo and César Yáñez. I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the support offered by Alfonso Díez Minguela, Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia, Julio Martinez-Galarraga and Daniel Tirado, who provided me with the database on Catalonia from the 1860, 1900 and 1930 censuses used in this thesis. I would like to extend a special thank you to all members of the Instituto de Economía de la Universidad de la República (IECON) and the “Pueblos y números del Río de la Plata 1760- 1860” research group for making me feel so welcome during my stay