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The political economy of educational content and development: Lessons from history

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  • Cantoni, Davide
  • Yuchtman, Noam
Abstract
Beyond years of schooling, educational content can play an important role in the process of economic development. Individuals’ choices of educational content are often shaped by the political economy of government policies that determine the incentives to acquire various skills. We first present a model in which differences in human capital investments emerge as an equilibrium outcome of private decisions and government policy choices. We then illustrate these dynamics in two historical circumstances. In medieval Europe, states and the Church found individuals trained in Roman law valuable, and eventually supported productive investments in this new form of human capital. In late 19th-century China, elites were threatened by the introduction of Western science and engineering and continued to select civil servants-who enjoyed substantial rents-based on their knowledge of the Confucian classics; as a result, investments in productive, modern human capital were not made.

Suggested Citation

  • Cantoni, Davide & Yuchtman, Noam, 2013. "The political economy of educational content and development: Lessons from history," Munich Reprints in Economics 20002, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:lmu:muenar:20002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Benjamin W. Arold, 2022. "Evolution vs. Creationism in the Classroom: The Lasting Effects of Science Education," ifo Working Paper Series 379, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    3. Bai, Ying, 2019. "Farewell to confucianism: The modernizing effect of dismantling China's imperial examination system," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    4. Bautista, María Angélica & González, Felipe & Martinez, Luis R. & Muñoz, Pablo & Prem, Mounu, 2020. "Dictatorship, Higher Education, and Social Mobility," SocArXiv 6st9r, Center for Open Science.
    5. Jeanet Bentzen & Nina Boberg-Fazlic & Paul Sharp & Christian Volmar Skovsgaard & Christian Vedel, 2023. "Holy Cows and Spilt Milk - The Impact of Religious Conflict on Firm-Level Productivity," Working Papers 0245, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    6. Davide Cantoni & Yuyu Chen & David Y. Yang & Noam Yuchtman & Y. Jane Zhang, 2017. "Curriculum and Ideology," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(2), pages 338-392.
    7. Davide Cantoni & Noam Yuchtman, 2014. "Medieval Universities, Legal Institutions, and the Commercial Revolution," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 823-887.
    8. repec:lic:licosd:37916 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Felipe González & María Angélica Bautista, & Luis R. Martínez & Pablo Muñoz & Mounu Prem, 2020. "Chile’s Missing Students: Dictatorship, Higher Education and Social Mobility," Documentos de Trabajo 542, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    10. Bo, Shiyu & Liu, Cong & Zhou, Yan, 2023. "Military investment and the rise of industrial clusters: Evidence from China’s self-strengthening movement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Shaoda Wang & Boxiao Zhang, 2023. "Buddha's grace illuminates all: Temple destruction, school construction and modernization in 20th century China," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(360), pages 1335-1361, October.
    12. Flechtner, Svenja & Panther, Stephan, 2017. "Global and domestic inequalities and the political economy of the midde-income trap," Working Paper Serie des Instituts für Ökonomie Ök-29, Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung (HfGG), Institut für Ökonomie.
    13. Yuchtman, Noam, 2017. "Teaching to the tests: An economic analysis of traditional and modern education in late imperial and republican China," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 70-90.
    14. Chen, Yuyu & Naidu, Suresh & Yu, Tinghua & Yuchtman, Noam, 2015. "Intergenerational mobility and institutional change in 20th century China," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 44-73.
    15. Philippe Aghion & Xavier Jaravel & Torsten Persson & Dorothée Rouzet, 2019. "Education and Military Rivalry," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 376-412.
    16. Hans-Bernd Schaefer & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Islamic Law, Western European Law and the Roots of Middle East's Long Divergence: a Comparative Empirical Investigation (800-1600)," Papers 2401.14435, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    17. Fan Li & Prashant Loyalka & Hongmei Yi, 2016. "Ability Tracking and Social Capital in China’s Rural Secondary School System," Working Papers id:10972, eSocialSciences.
    18. Francesca Borgonovi & Artur Pokropek, 2022. "The Role of Birthplace Diversity in Shaping Education Gradients in Trust: Country and Regional Level Mediation-Moderation Analyses," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 164(1), pages 239-261, November.
    19. Bukowski, Paweł, 2018. "How history matters for student performance: lessons from the Partitions of Poland," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90643, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Bukowski, Paweł, 2019. "How history matters for student performance. lessons from the Partitions of Poland," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 136-175.
    21. Choi, Syngjoo & Hahn, Kyu Sup & Kim, Byung-Yeon & Lee, Eungik & Lee, Jungmin & Lee, Sokbae, 2024. "North Korean refugees’ implicit bias against South Korea predicts market earnings," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    22. Koyama, Mark & Xue, Melanie Meng, 2015. "The Literary Inquisition: The Persecution of Intellectuals and Human Capital Accumulation in China," MPRA Paper 62103, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Kai Gehring, 2022. "Can External Threats Foster a European Union Identity? Evidence from Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(644), pages 1489-1516.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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