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Nation-Building and Education

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  • Alberto Alesina
  • Paola Giuliano
  • Bryony Reich

Abstract

Nations stay together when citizens share enough values and preferences and can communicate with each other. Democracies and dictatorships have different incentives when it comes to choosing how much and by what means to homogenize the population, i.e. “to build a nation”. We study and compare nation-building policies under the transition from dictatorship to democracy in a model where the location and type of government and the borders of the country are endogenous. We find that the threat of democratization provides the strongest incentive to homogenize. We focus upon a specific nation-building policy: the provision of mass primary education. As a motivation, we offer historical discussions of several episodes in the nineteenth century and suggestive correlations for a large sample of countries over the 1925-2014 period.

Suggested Citation

  • Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano & Bryony Reich, 2013. "Nation-Building and Education," NBER Working Papers 18839, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:18839
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Becker, Sascha O. & Mukand, Sharun & Yotzov, Ivan, 2022. "Persecution, pogroms and genocide: A conceptual framework and new evidence," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    2. Emilio Depetris-Chauvin & Ruben Durante & Filipe Campante, 2020. "Building Nations through Shared Experiences: Evidence from African Football," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(5), pages 1572-1602, May.
    3. Lai, Weizheng, 2024. "The effect of education on voter turnout in China's rural elections," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 230-247.
    4. Francisco J Beltrán Tapia & Alfonso Díez-Minguela & Alicia Gómez-Tello & Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Daniel A Tirado-Fabregats, 2024. "Local institutions and human capital formation in pre-industrial societies: evidence from Valencia," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 28(2), pages 135-162.
    5. Hauk, Esther & Ortega, Javier, 2015. "Schooling, Nation Building, and Industrialization: A Gellnerian Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 9048, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Bautista, M. A. & González, F. & Martínez, L. R. & Muñoz, P. & Prem, M., 2020. "Chile’s Missing Students: Dictatorship, Higher Education and Social Mobility," Documentos de Trabajo 18163, Universidad del Rosario.
    7. Chang Xue & Xiaoyu Zhang, 2024. "Promotion prospects and policy choice: evidence from the land market in China," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 200(1), pages 119-147, July.
    8. Ralph Hippe & Roger Fouquet, 2024. "The Human Capital Transition and the Role of Policy," Springer Books, in: Claude Diebolt & Michael Haupert (ed.), Handbook of Cliometrics, edition 3, pages 411-457, Springer.
    9. Enrico Spolaore & Romain Wacziarg, 2022. "Fertility and Modernity," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(642), pages 796-833.
    10. Yuki, Kazuhiro, 2021. "Modernization, social identity, and ethnic conflict," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    11. Hyungmin Park, 2024. "Theory of developmental dictatorship," Discussion Papers 2024-10, Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP).
    12. Kersting, Felix & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2024. "On the origins of national identity. German nation-building after Napoleon," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 463-477.
    13. Diwan, Ishac & Vartanova, Irina, 2020. "Does education indoctrinate?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    14. David Chilosi & Stefan Nikolić, 2021. "Vanishing borders: ethnicity and trade costs at the origin of the Yugoslav market," Working Papers 0214, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    15. Ananyev, Maxim & Poyker, Michael, 2023. "Identity and conflict: Evidence from Tuareg rebellion in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Richard M. Bird & Eric M. Zolt, 2014. "Taxation and inequality in the Americas: Changing the fiscal contract?," Chapters, in: Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), Taxation and Development: The Weakest Link?, chapter 7, pages 193-237, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Abramson, Boaz & Shayo, Moses, 2022. "International integration and social identity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    18. Jorge Martinez-Vazquez & Richard M. Bird, 2014. "Sustainable development requires a good tax system," Chapters, in: Richard M. Bird & Jorge Martinez-Vazquez (ed.), Taxation and Development: The Weakest Link?, chapter 1, pages 1-24, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Bird, Richard M. & Zolt, Eric M., 2015. "Fiscal Contracting in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 323-335.
    20. Pau Insa-Sánchez & Alfonso Díez-Minguela, 2023. "Starting high school? On the origins of secondary education in Spain, 1857–1901," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 17(2), pages 233-259, May.
    21. Giampaolo Lecce & Laura Ogliari & Tommaso Orlando, 2022. "State formation, social unrest and cultural distance," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 453-483, September.
    22. Gregory W. Caskey & Ilia Murtazashvili, 2022. "The predatory state and coercive assimilation: The case of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 191(1), pages 217-235, April.
    23. Antonio Di Paolo & Khalifany-Ash Shidiqi, 2024. "“Education and Ethnic Intermarriage: Evidence from Higher Education Expansion in Indonesia”," AQR Working Papers 202403, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised May 2024.

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