Journal of Development Economics · 2026 · Juliana Jaramillo-Echeverri、Andrés Álvarez
中文摘要
我们考察哥伦比亚优质教育机会不平等在深层历史上的根源。利用稀有姓氏追踪从殖民时代至20世纪初少数族裔与精英的世系，我们分析血统是否能预测教育机构入学机会。研究发现存在很强的相关性：拥有非裔哥伦比亚人或原住民姓氏的学生进入优质学校的可能性更低，就读低质量学校的可能性更高，而拥有精英姓氏的学生则呈现相反的模式。尽管我们观察到部分历史精英出现向均值回归，但对持续存在的精英而言，教育的特权性准入随时间得以保持。我们探讨选型婚配作为这种机会不平等持续性的机制。我们发现，优质学校与低质量学校的就读者在婚姻模式上存在显著差异，同质婚配强化了教育差距。这些结果表明，在拉丁美洲最不平等的国家之一，深植于过去的等级结构对当代教育不平等具有持久影响。
Abstract
We examine the deep historical roots of contemporary disparities in access to high-quality education in Colombia. Using rare surnames to follow lineages of ethnic minorities and elites from the colonial era to the early 20th century, we analyze whether ancestry predicts access to educational institutions. Our findings reveal strong correlations: Students with Afro-Colombian or Indigenous surnames are less likely to be enrolled in high-quality schools and more likely to be attending low-quality schools, while those with elite surnames show the opposite pattern. Although we observe regression to the mean for some historical elites, privileged access to education holds over time for persistent elites. We explore assortative mating as a mechanism behind this persistence in inequality of opportunity. We find that marriage patterns differ significantly between attendees of high- and low-quality schools, with homogamy reinforcing educational disparities. These results demonstrate the enduring influence of past-rooted hierarchies on contemporary educational inequality in one of Latin America’s most unequal countries.