《aer.100.2.147 Religious Conversion in Colonial Africa》.pdfVIP

American Economic Review: Papers Proceedings 100 (May 2010): 147–152 /articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.100.2.147 Religious Conversion in Colonial Africa By Nathan Nunn* Within economics, there has been a recent Iyigun (2008), which provides evidence linking effort to better understand the notion of culture, the Protestant Reformation to the sixteenth- typically defined as beliefs, values, and norms century expansion of the Ottoman Empire into held by individuals. Empirical work has focused continental Europe. on identifying systematic cultural differences between individuals from different ethnic and I.  Historical Background national backgrounds. More recently, attention has turned to the historical origins of cultural In the late nineteenth and early twentieth cen- differences (e.g., Luigi Guiso, Paolo Sapienza, turies, Africa witnessed an explosion of mission- and Luigi Zingales 2008; Nathan Nunn and ary activity. The success of missionaries during Leonard Wantchekon 2009). this period was due in large part to the onset of Colonial Africa provides a natural laboratory colonial rule, which made clear to Africans the to examine how an external intervention can benefit of European education. Robin Horton have lasting impacts on people’s beliefs and val- writes: “With the advent of the twentieth cen- ues. This study examines the effect of European tury … Europeans came to be seen as symbols missionary activities in colonial Africa on the