We investigate the long term determinants of political and economic outcomes over a new data set
composed of Mississippi counties. We analyze the effect of disfranchisement on voting registration
at the end of the nineteenth century (1896-9), as well as the impact of voting registration on
education outcomes at different points in time, namely in 1917 and in the 1950s. Finally, we turn to
the determinants of a broad array of development indicators for the year 1960 and for the 1960-
2000 period. Our main conclusion is that race, rather than political institutions and education
policies, is the main force driving the above outcomes
