Christianization without economic development: Evidence from missions in Ghana

B-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization
Year: 2021
Volume: 190
Issue: C
Pages: 573-596

Score contribution per author:

0.670 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 1.0x B-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

One of the most powerful cultural transformations of the 20th century has been the dramatic expansion of Christianity outside of Europe. This unique historical process was facilitated by vast Christian missionary efforts. In this paper, we study the economic effects of Christian missions in Ghana. We rely on six distinct identification strategies that exploit exogenous variations in Christian missionary expansion from 1828 to 1932. We find no association between Christian missions, whether Protestant, Catholic, Presbyterian or Methodist, and local economic development, whether during contemporary or colonial times. However, some results suggest that Christian missions might have had a positive effect on human capital formation. There might thus be contexts in which missions promoted human capital accumulation without this necessarily translating into local economic development.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:eee:jeborg:v:190:y:2021:i:c:p:573-596
Journal Field
Theory
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25