Long-Term Effects of the Inca Road

Abstract

The Inca Empire was the last of a long series of highly developed cultures in pre-colonial South America. It stretched across parts of the current territories of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and the whole of Peru. The Inca Road was its 30,000-kilometer-long transportation system. The aim of this study is to identify its long-term impact on current development in Peru. Our results show that the long-run effect of the Inca Road includes increases in wages and educational attainment, a reduction of child malnutrition and an increase in children’s mathematics test scores. We also find that these effects are around 20% greater for women and explore the mechanisms that may account for this pattern.

Keywords: Infrastructure, Organizations, Inca Road, regression discontinuity design, labor supply, health, education, gender roles.

JEL Classification: H41, I15, I31, J21, J24, L91, N36, N76, N86, N96, R23, R40.