Diverse but United: Elites and Public Goods in Early 20th Century Ecuador

• In Event: Comparative Historical Perspectives on the State and Policy Reform

Abstract

What drives variation in public goods provision? Scholars have focused on heterogeneity
among the mass public or inequality between elites and the mass public as potential
drivers. However, because at early stages of state formation elites had almost total influences
on government output, I explore how this group’s composition might influence
the amount of public goods. I argue that a higher level of diversity within the economic
elite is associated with a greater provision of public goods. To test this hypothesis, I
digitize information from early 20th century Ecuador to construct an elite heterogeneity
index at the local level using last names from 2200 economic elites across the country. I
combine these data on elite heterogeneity with a unique inventory of the state’s assets
from 1914. The main results show that locations characterized by a greater heterogeneity
of economic elites received a greater amount of public goods. This result is robust to
controlling for several geographic characteristics and alternative specifications. Evidence
on potential mechanisms suggest that elite heterogeneity in this case was characterized
by emerging and established elites entering into overlapping economic sectors, fostering
shared common interests in greater public goods provision.

Author

• Daniel Baquero, New York University