Essays on the Influence of Western Institutions on Indigenous Societies

Abstract

This dissertation comprises three essays on the influence of western institutions on the development path of Chile's largest indigenous group, the Mapuche. Chapter 1 documents the evolution of land ownership and social structure since the imposition of a reservation system in the late 19th century. The analysis combines novel data on social structure at the time of forced settlement with contemporaneous data on land ownership. The results reveal that most reservation land is still owned by Mapuche. In addition, the patrilineal kinship structure that characterized Mapuche has been significantly eroded since forced settlement. Chapter 2 focuses on how policy supporting the expansion of forest plantations has transformed Mapuche's homeland. A deep learning model that integrates satellite imagery from different sensors reveals that plantations sharply increased in the proximity of reservations since 1973. A large share has replaced native vegetation from which Mapuche benefited. Chapter 3, coauthored with Robert Heilmayr, studies the effects of the quasi-random extension of national-level, property rights institutions to reservations. It finds that enhanced access to these institutions fueled a dramatic transition from customary tenure to individual property rights between 1931 and 1952. By 1991, reservations with better access had improved their material conditions and accumulated more human and natural capital. These outcomes are consistent with improved tenure security and marketability leading to a better allocation of the factors of production: communities reduced overgrazing, moved labor out of subsistence agriculture, and consolidated landholdings into larger estates. Although Mapuche's presence was reduced, only a small fraction of the estimated economic benefits can be attributed to shifts in the ethnic composition of reservations.