The Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining<i>Mita</i>

TLDR

The authors use regression discontinuity on Spanish Empire and Peruvian Republic data to trace how the mita’s legacy persists through land‑tenure changes and public‑goods provision. Mita districts today experience a 25 % lower household consumption, a 6‑percentage‑point higher stunted‑growth rate, fewer large landowners, lower educational attainment, poorer road connectivity, and a higher share of subsistence farming.

Abstract

This study utilizes regression discontinuity to examine the long-run impacts of the mita, an extensive forced mining labor system in effect in Peru and Bolivia between 1573 and 1812. Results indicate that a mita effect lowers household consumption by around 25% and increases the prevalence of stunted growth in children by around 6 percentage points in subjected districts today. Using data from the Spanish Empire and Peruvian Republic to trace channels of institutional persistence, I show that the mita's influence has persisted through its impacts on land tenure and public goods provision. Mita districts historically had fewer large landowners and lower educational attainment. Today, they are less integrated into road networks and their residents are substantially more likely to be subsistence farmers.