CAREER: Long-Run Development and the Legacy of Spanish Colonialism in Latin America

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James Mahoney00093754This CAREER research project explores the relationship between Spanish colonialism and long-run development in Latin American. The project falls with the comparative-historical research tradition. Comparative-historical analysis is particularly well studied for addressing broad questions of national development in which macro processes and temporal sequences are central to the explanation. Historical data from 15 Latin American countries will be used to investigate the intriguing negative correlation between Spanish colonial penetration in the eighteenth century and levels of economic, social, and political development in the twentieth century. Those regions of the Spanish colonial empire that were the most heavily penetrated during the colonial period, such as Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, and Guatemala are hypothesized to have emerged as the least developed countries of Latin American in the 20th century. In contrast, those regions that were the least penetrated by the Spanish, such as Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica, are hypothesized t have become the most developed countries of Latin American during the 20th century. This relationship will be testing by using existing quantitative data sources to measure level of colonial penetration and level of development for the different countries of Latin America. Measures of colonial penetration include statistics on trade, population, bullion production, budgets and salary. Measures of development include statistics on gross domestic product per capita, infant mortality rate, life expectancy at birth, and democracy. Extensive readings on the historiography of late colonial Latin America will also be completed. The education component of the proposal consists of providing research opportunities for students as research assistants; creating a mentor program which links undergraduate with graduate students; and developing a new seminar course on "Colonial Legacies" and integrating sections of the project into a current course on methodology and development.