The Long-Term Effects of the Printing Press in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article delves into the relationship between newspaper readership and civic attitudes, and its effect on economic development. To this end, we investigate the long-term consequences of the introduction of the printing press in the 19th century. In sub-Saharan Africa, Protestant missionaries were the first both to import the printing press technology and to allow the indigenous population to use it. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant missions in 1903. This dataset includes, for each mission station, the geographic location and its characteristics, as well as the educational and health-related investments undertaken by the mission. We show that, within regions located close to missions, proximity to a printing press significantly increases newspaper readership today. We also document a strong association between proximity to a printing press and contemporary economic development. Our results are robust to a variety of identification strategies

There is No "Case for Colonialism": insights from the colonial economic history.

Yannick Dupraz and Valeria Rueda discuss why colonialism is not a development policy to be judged on the basis of a careful cost-benefit analysis

Career Paths with a Two-Body Problem: Occupational Specialization and Geographic Mobility

We develop a model of joint job search and occupational choice in which job opportunities can be incompatible inside the couple. Typically, incompatibilities may arise because jobs are not in the same location. We show that the existence of incompatible jobs pushes some couples to sacrifice the career of one partner. The model predicts occupational switches throughout the career and at the time of couple formation. Gendered equilibria, whereby all women (or men) choose the accommodating occupation, may arise. Any element of ex-ante unfavorable gender gaps—for instance, due to discrimination or norms—is amplified and can generate large systemic differences in gender composition between occupations

Smicridea mclachlan (Trichoptera: Hydropsychidae) from northwestern Argentina and bolivia: New species, redescription, association and new records

Four new species of Smicridea (Rhyacophylax) are described from Argentina and Bolivia. Smicridea (Rhyacophylax) bifida sp. nov., S. (R.) elisae sp. nov. and S. (R.) valeni sp. nov. are described from the male; S. (R.) thermophyla sp. nov. is described as the first species of Smicridea from thermal springs. The larva and pupa of S. (R.) thermophila were associated using the metamorphotype method. New distributional records of S. (R.) dithyra, S. (R.) atrobasis, S. (R.) peruana and S. (R.) pampeana are included. Morphological characters of male S. (R.) peruana that were not mentioned before are included. Illustrations of all taxa named in this paper are included.Fil: Rueda Martin, Paola Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucuman. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; ArgentinaFil: Sganga, Julieta Valeria. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biodiversidad y Biología Experimental; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Sex and the mission: the conflicting effects of early Christian missions on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates the long-term impact of historical missionary activity on HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were the first to invest in modern medicine in the region. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors that affect the risk of contagion. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as the health facilities they invested in, that we combine with individual-level DHS data. With these data, we can address separately these two channels , within regions close to historical missionary settlements. First, we show that proximity to historical missionary health facilities decreases the likelihood of HIV; persistence in healthcare provision and safer sexual behaviors in the region explain this result. Second, we show that regions close to historical missionary settlements exhibit higher likelihood of HIV. This effect is driven by the Christian population in our sample. This suggests conversion to Christianity as a possible explanatory channel. Our findings are robust to alternative specifications addressing selection

The Long-Term Effects of the Printing Press in sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates the long-term consequences of the printing press in the nineteenth century sub-Saharan Africa on social capital nowadays. Protestant missionaries were the first to import the printing press and to allow the indigenous population to use it. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant missions in 1903. This dataset includes, for each mission station, the geographic location and its characteristics, as well as the printing-, educational-, and health-related investments undertaken by the mission. We show that, within regions close to missions, proximity to a printing press is associated with higher newspaper readership, trust, education, and political participation

Estrategias de fortalecimiento organizacional para huertomanías

The present degree work deals with strategies to strengthen the "Huertomanías" entrepreneurship, an urban garden that offers job opportunities to people diagnosed with severe mental disorder. As part of the investigation, it was determined that this organization has had both financial and organizational structure problems, which has led members to seek alliances that allow them to stay on their feet...El presente trabajo de titulación trata sobre estrategias de fortalecimiento del emprendimiento “Huertomanías”, un huerto urbano que ofrece posibilidades de trabajo a personas con diagnóstico de trastorno mental grave. Como parte de la investigación, se determinó que esta organización ha tenido problemas tanto financieros como de estructura organizativa, lo que ha llevado a los miembros a buscar alianzas que le permitan mantenerse en pie..

Sex and the Mission: The Conflicting Effects of Early Christian Investments on the HIV Epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates the long-term historical impact of missionary activity on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were among the first to invest in modern medicine in a number of countries. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as their health investments. Using a number of different empirical strategies to address selection in missionary locations and into health investments, we show that missionary presence has conflicting effects on HIV today. Regions close to historical mission stations exhibit higher HIV prevalence. This negative impact is robust to multiple specifications accounting for urbanization, and we provide evidence that it is specific to STDs. Less knowledge about condom use is a likely channel. On the contrary, among regions historically close to missionary settlements, proximity to a mission with a health investment is associated with lower HIV prevalence nowadays. Safer sexual behaviors around these missions are a possible explanatory channel

Internal Borders and Population Geography in the Unification of Italy

We offer new evidence on the spatial economic impact of Italian unification. Adopting municipal population as a proxy for local economic activity, we construct a new geocoded dataset spanning the pre- and post-unification periods, and discover robust evidence of an acceleration in growth near the former borders. A disproportionate improvement in market access boosted growth in these locations when barriers to trade were dismantled. Indirectly, unification’s decisive contribution to intraregional market integration, local specialization and exchange, and economic development is revealed

Sex and the Mission: The Conflicting Effects of Early Christian Investments on the HIV Epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates the long-term historical impact of missionary activity on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. On the one hand, missionaries were among the first to invest in modern medicine in a number of countries. On the other hand, Christianity influenced sexual beliefs and behaviors. We build a new geocoded dataset locating Protestant and Catholic missions in the early 20th century, as well as their health investments. Using a number of different empirical strategies to address selection in missionary locations and into health investments, we show that missionary presence has conflicting effects on HIV today. Regions close to historical mission stations exhibit higher HIV prevalence. This negative impact is robust to multiple specifications accounting for urbanization, and we provide evidence that it is specific to STDs. Less knowledge about condom use is a likely channel. On the contrary, among regions historically close to missionary settlements, proximity to a mission with a health investment is associated with lower HIV prevalence nowadays. Safer sexual behaviors around these missions are a possible explanatory channel