Landownership concentration and human capital accumulation in post-unification Italy
利用1871-1921年意大利地区数据，研究发现土地不平等对识字率有负面影响，并通过工具变量法（疟疾流行度）处理内生性，揭示其通过影响学校供给和私人教育需求的作用机制。
Abstract This paper contributes to the debate on institutions and economic development by assessing the relationship between landownership concentration and education. Using historical data at both the district and province levels in post-unification Italy from 1871 to 1921, I find evidence of an adverse effect of land inequality on literacy rates. Instrumental variable estimates using malaria pervasiveness as a source of exogenous variation rule out concerns regarding potential endogeneity. Exploration of the panel dimension of the data reveals that several shocks during this period affected the relationship between land inequality and literacy rates. In addition, this paper provides insights into the mechanism behind this relationship by analyzing the impact on intermediate outputs, such as enrollment rates in primary school, child-teacher ratio, school density, child labor, and municipality expenditures. Land inequality may have adversely affected literacy rates not only by influencing schooling supply through the political process but also through the private demand for education.