Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia

Enclosing literacy? Common lands and human capital in Spain, 1860–1930

The slow growth of the stock of human capital in Spain has been related to weak levels of economic development and a low commitment of Spanish institutions to primary education. This paper adds to these explanations by showing that common lands positively contributed to achieving significantly higher levels of both schooling expenditure and literacy rates. By supporting both municipal and households’ incomes, these collective resources sustained not only the local supply of education, but also the demand for it, although their influence decreased over time. Likewise, either low levels of economic development prevented human capital from growing endogenously or demand factors were not as important as previously argued. Lastly, even though the active intervention of the central government was crucial to promote education, its effort was not enough and human capital in Spain lagged behind other European countries in the early stages of economic development.

Commons and the standard of living debate in Spain, 1860–1930

Abstract Biological living standards stagnated or even declined during the transition to modern economic growth. Although income per capita was increasing, other indicators, such as mortality rates or heights, portrayed a completely different image. This paper adds to the standard of living debate by analysing the potential effect of the privatisation of common lands. Although highly controversial regarding its impact on the modernisation process itself, its contribution to human welfare has somewhat received much less attention. Focusing on the Spanish experience, this paper exploits geographical variation over time by collecting a panel data set at the provincial level on three different periods: 1860, 1900 and 1930. The empirical analysis shows that the persistence of these collective resources is related with higher life expectancy and heights, particularly during the second half of the nineteenth century. Biological human welfare also seems to have been negatively influenced by the progressively decreasing role that local communities played on the management of these resources. The survival of common lands in some regions provided peasants with mechanisms different from the market, thus making the transition to a market economy more socially sustainable.

COMMON LANDS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN SPAIN

The impact of the privatisation of the commons remains a contested topic throughout the social sciences. Focusing on the Spanish case, this article reviews the literature and provides an overall assessment of this historical process based on recent research. Common lands appear to have been reasonably well managed and their dismantling did not foster agricultural productivity. Instead, the privatisation process negatively affected the economic situation of a large proportion of rural households and local councils, as well as deteriorating the stock of social capital. Therefore, the long-standing belief in the existence of a trade-off between equity and efficiency actually turns out to be misleading.

What explains the missing girls in nineteenth-century Spain?: MISSING GIRLS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY SPAIN

Infant and childhood sex ratios in nineteenth‐century Spain were abnormally high, thus pointing to some sort of unexplained excess female mortality. This article analyses internal regional variation and shows that certain economic and social factors mitigated gender discrimination against newborn and/or young girls. In particular, the presence of wage labour opportunities for women and the prevalence of extended families in which different generations of women cohabited had beneficial effects on girls’ survival. Likewise, infant and child sex ratios were lower in dense, more urbanized areas.

Migrants’ self-selection in the early stages of modern economic growth, Spain (1880–1930)†

Drawing on a large database from the register of inhabitants of Madrid, this article confirms that the literacy levels of internal migrants moving to the Spanish capital city in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century were higher than that of those who remained in their provinces of origin. This article also explores the different factors influencing the nature and intensity of the selection process. The empirical exercise stresses that the stock of previous migration was a fundamental factor in allowing less literate individuals to join the migration process as well. Interestingly, distance to Madrid hardly affected the profile of male migrants, but it was a strong influence on female migration, although its importance diminished over time. Lastly, the results presented here show that other internal destinations were attracting different types of migrants, often resulting in negative self‐selection.