Shared Knowledge, Shared Lives: Literacy Spillovers in Rural Spanish Households, 1906–1920

Opeyemi Femi-Oladunni, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

This article analyses how literacy shaped economic outcomes among illiterate individuals in early twentieth-century rural Spain, a context of delayed and uneven educational expansion. Using newly linked census and tax microdata from La Mancha (1906–1920), it reconceptualises literacy as a household resource rather than an individual endowment, estimating regression models for income, wealth, intra-household allocation, and occupational status across expansionary and post-boom periods. Findings reveal that literacy exposure increases income by 1.2% in the pooled sample and 2.1% during the Vineyard Boom; women gain approximately 3.5–4%, compared to about 2% for men. The effect becomes small and statistically insignificant after the boom. Also, literacy exposure does not generate consistent wealth gains and is associated with wealth reductions of up to 9% for illiterate men during the boom. It reduces illiterate members’ income shares by 2.7–3.0 percentage points and wealth shares by 6–9 percentage points. Occupational-status results confirm that these effects extend beyond fiscal measures. Overall, literacy operated as a context-dependent household capability, improving earnings and status while leaving asset ownership comparatively rigid.

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 Presented in Session 81. Opening up Opportunity: Economic and Societal Change