【主讲】颜色 助教授 (北京大学光华管理学院应用经济系)
【主题】The Long-Term Effects of Christian Activities in China
【时间】2013年4月12日 (周五) 15：30-17：00
【地点】上海财经大学经济学院楼710室
【语言】中文
【摘要】Does culture, and in particular religion, exert an independent causal effect on long-term economic performance, or is it merely a reflection of the latter? We explore this issue by studying the experience of Christianity in China during the late 19th and early 20th century. Despite of thearduous process, the fast spread of Christianity, especially among the less developed and isolated regions of China, open a new window for the local people to see the outside world, and encourage them to become more open-minded. Such cultural interactions generate persistent and profound impacts on regional development. Using county-level datasets on Christian activities in 1920 and socioeconomic indicators in 2000, we find a robust positive relationship between the intensity of Christian activities and today's performances. To better understand if the relationship is causal, we review historical documents on the location pattern of missionaries' selection and use instrumental variable (IV) approach. Our IV estimates confirm and enhance the OLS results. Together the empirical evidence suggests that increased Christian activities had a positive effect on long-term socioeconomic development. We further investigate the transmission channels between history and today, and find that Christian activities affect today's performances through accumulation of human capital, openness to foreign direct investments, as well as other unobserved mechanisms.
