Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup
This paper offers a novel illustration of the political economy of religion by examining the impact of religious elites on development. We compile a unique database on holy Muslim shrines across Pakistani Punjab and construct a historical panel of literacy spanning over a century (1901–2011). Using...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2022
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171497 |
| _version_ | 1855530931192856576 |
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| author | Malik, Adeel Mirza, Rinchan Ali |
| author_browse | Malik, Adeel Mirza, Rinchan Ali |
| author_facet | Malik, Adeel Mirza, Rinchan Ali |
| author_sort | Malik, Adeel |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | This paper offers a novel illustration of the political economy of religion by examining the impact of religious elites on development. We compile a unique database on holy Muslim shrines across Pakistani Punjab and construct a historical panel of literacy spanning over a century (1901–2011). Using the 1977 military takeover as a universal shock that gave control over public goods to politicians, our difference-in-differences analysis shows that areas with a greater concentration of shrines experienced a substantially retarded growth in literacy after the coup. Our results suggest that the increase in average literacy rate would have been higher by 13% in the post-coup period in the absence of shrine influence. We directly address the selection concern that shrines might be situated in areas predisposed to lower literacy expansion. Finally, we argue that the coup devolved control over public goods to local politicians, and shrine elites, being more averse to education since it undermines their power, suppressed its expansion in shrine-dense areas. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace171497 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1714972025-02-19T14:36:25Z Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup Malik, Adeel Mirza, Rinchan Ali religion development military operations literacy public goods political institutions education This paper offers a novel illustration of the political economy of religion by examining the impact of religious elites on development. We compile a unique database on holy Muslim shrines across Pakistani Punjab and construct a historical panel of literacy spanning over a century (1901–2011). Using the 1977 military takeover as a universal shock that gave control over public goods to politicians, our difference-in-differences analysis shows that areas with a greater concentration of shrines experienced a substantially retarded growth in literacy after the coup. Our results suggest that the increase in average literacy rate would have been higher by 13% in the post-coup period in the absence of shrine influence. We directly address the selection concern that shrines might be situated in areas predisposed to lower literacy expansion. Finally, we argue that the coup devolved control over public goods to local politicians, and shrine elites, being more averse to education since it undermines their power, suppressed its expansion in shrine-dense areas. 2022-04-18 2025-01-29T12:58:15Z 2025-01-29T12:58:15Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171497 en Open Access Oxford University Press Malik, Adeel; and Mirza, Rinchan Ali. 2022. Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup. Journal of the European Economic Association 20(2): 907-956. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvab050 |
| spellingShingle | religion development military operations literacy public goods political institutions education Malik, Adeel Mirza, Rinchan Ali Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title | Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title_full | Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title_fullStr | Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title_short | Pre-colonial religious institutions and development: Evidence through a military coup |
| title_sort | pre colonial religious institutions and development evidence through a military coup |
| topic | religion development military operations literacy public goods political institutions education |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171497 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT malikadeel precolonialreligiousinstitutionsanddevelopmentevidencethroughamilitarycoup AT mirzarinchanali precolonialreligiousinstitutionsanddevelopmentevidencethroughamilitarycoup |