The Protestant Legacy: Missions, Gender, and Human Capital in India

We study the long-term impact of Protestant missions in colonial India on present-day literacy, education,and gender equality in human capital outcomes. We combine contemporary administrativeand survey data with archival information on the spatial distribution of missions and the gendercomposition of missionaries in early twentieth-century India. We document a positive long-runlink between Protestant missions and human capital today. The relationship is particularly strongfor women and for missions with higher female presence. While the data to fully explore the underlyingmechanisms are limited, we show that exposure to Protestant missionaries may have inducedshifts in gender attitudes.

本研究考察殖民时期印度的新教传教活动，对当代人力资本成果中识字率、教育水平及性别平等状况的长期影响。本研究将当代行政与调查数据，与20世纪早期印度传教活动的空间分布、传教士性别构成的档案资料相结合。研究结果显示，当代人力资本水平与殖民时期新教传教活动之间存在显著的正向长期关联。该关联在女性群体，以及女性传教士占比更高的传教活动中表现得尤为突出。尽管用于全面探究其内在作用机制的数据较为有限，但本研究表明，接触新教传教士或可推动当地社会性别观念的转变。