Aparajita Das.

10/12/2018

Orientador: Juliano Assunção.

Banca: Arthur Amorim Bragança. Claudio Ferraz. Rudi Rocha. Lakshmi Iyer.

History shapes development: Culture, institutions and regional disparities in India

Nível: Doutorado

This thesis consists of three papers examining the impact of history on long-run development processes through the channels of institution and culture. The first paper studies land revenue institutions in colonial India and identifies a multi-channel mechanism through which variations in that institution have long-run consequences for agricultural investment and productivity. The second paper examines the relationship between  various dimensions of cultural diversity and growth in Indian districts using an instrumental variables strategy. These results find the strongest impacts for religious diversity. The significant impact of religious diversity in increasing productivity and reducing poverty may be due to increased emphasis on secular institutions in the face of religious competition. The last paper studies the formation of cultural values as a channel through which development outcomes may be impacted by initial conditions. We find that inherent geographical traits render certain regions more likely to be agricultural, male-dominated societies with a lower propensity to worship female deities, which in turn leads to worse female literacy outcomes.