Professional Documents
Culture Documents
697
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698
Saleh
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700
Saleh
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702
Saleh
The novelty of the research question stems from the relevance of the
19511953 reform to the experiences of many developing countries in
the post-Colonial Era in their attempts to unify the traditional and modern
educational systems. Interestingly, the reform involved little improvement in the quality of kuttabs (it may have even dropped) and limited
construction of new schools.
The article also contributes to Middle Eastern and Egyptian history.
Scholars of education in the region such as James Heyworth-Dunne
DQGUHFHQWO\6HOoXN6RPHOHPSKDVL]HGWKDWWUDQVIRUPLQJ
the traditional educational system was arguably at the core of Egypts
DQGWKH2WWRPDQ(PSLUHVTXHVWIRUPRGHUQL]DWLRQVLQFHDWOHDVWWKHQLQHteenth century. Roderic Matthews and Matta Akrawi (1949) and Joseph
6]\OLRZLF]VXJJHVWHGWKDW(J\SWVFHQWXU\ORQJDQGPRVWO\WRS
down, experience in introducing a XQLHG primary education system was
in many ways similar to that of other countries in the region. The process
was slow and non-linear though as it was faced by various obstacles
including the resistance of the Muslim religious elites, the lack of welltrained teachers, and, equally important, the challenge of introducing a
XQLHGFXUULFXOXPWKDWHPEUDFHVWKHQDWLYHQRQ0XVOLPPLQRULWLHV7KH
DUWLFOH FRQWULEXWHV WR WKLV GHEDWH YLD SURYLGLQJ WKH UVW HPSLULFDO DQDOysis of Egypts public mass education reform in 19511953 (Harby and
(O$]]DZL%RNWRU&RFKUDQ7KHDUWLFOHDOVRSUHVHQWV
WKHUVWTXDQWLWDWLYHHYLGHQFHRQWKHHYROXWLRQRIWKH&KULVWLDQ0XVOLP
socioeconomic differences in one of the regions largest countries as
opposed to the previous, mostly qualitative, literature including Jacques
Tagher 1998 [1951], Charles Issawi (1981), and Youssef Courbage and
Philippe Fargues (1997).
EGYPTS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM AND THE 19511953 REFORM
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704
Saleh
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1.5
1
.5
19
69
/7
0
19
59
/6
0
19
21
19 /22
24
19 /25
27
19 /28
30
19 /31
33
19 /34
36
19 /37
39
19 /40
42
19 /43
45
19 /46
48
19 /49
51
/5
2
19
12
/1
3
19
06
/0
7
Modern Schools
FIGURE 1
EGYPTS SUPPLIES OF KUTTABS AND MODERN SCHOOLS
PER 1,000 CHILDREN IN 19061970
Notes: Modern schools include primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions.
Numbers are adjusted by Egypts school-age population that I obtained from the closest population
census. Kuttabs are adjusted by the population aged from 5 to 14 years, whereas modern schools
are adjusted by the population aged from 5 to 19 years. The only exception is in 1921/22 where
I adjusted KuttabsE\WKHSRSXODWLRQDJHGWR\HDUVEHFDXVH,FRXOGQRWQGLQIRUPDWLRQRQ
the population aged 514 years in the 1917 population census.
Source: Egypts school censuses (Statistique Scolaire) from 1906/07 to 1969/70.
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706
Saleh
B. Modern Schools
Private Subsidized
Private Non-Subsidized
80
60
40
/7
0
69
19
/1
3
19
1921/
2
1924/ 2
2
1927/ 5
2
3
19 0/ 8
3
1933/ 1
3
3
19 6/ 4
3
1939/ 7
4
4
19 2/ 0
4
1945/ 3
46
4
19 8/
51 49
/5
2
19
59
/6
0
12
19
06
19
2
19 1/22
24
19 /25
2
19 7/28
30
19 /31
33
19 /34
3
19 6/37
39
19 /40
4
19 2/43
45
19 /46
4
19 8/49
51
/5
2
19
/1
3
12
/0
7
20
80
60
40
20
19
19
06
/0
7
100
A. Kuttabs
Private
Foreign
FIGURE 2
SECTORAL COMPOSITION OF KUTTABS AND MODERN SCHOOLS IN 1906/071951/52
Notes: Modern schools include primary and secondary schools and higher education institutions.
Source: Egypts school censuses (Statistique Scolaire) from 1906/07 to 1969/70.
DQG7RJHWKHUWKHVHWUHQGVLQGLFDWHWKDWWKHUVWKDOIRI
the twentieth century witnessed increased state intervention in education
via administering the traditionally private kuttabs and increasing public
provision of modern schools.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM EDUCATIONAL
AND OCCUPATIONAL DIFFERENTIALS
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
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708
Saleh
A. Years of Schooling
A2. Christian-Muslim Difference
Muslims
19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
Birth Cohort
.5
19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
Christian-Muslim Difference
1.5
2
2.5
12
A1. Levels
Christians
Birth Cohort
B. % Literate
B2. Christian-Muslim Difference
19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
Birth Cohort
Muslims
19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
.4
.5
Christian-Muslim Difference
.05
.1
Percent Literate
.6
.7
.15
.8
B1. Levels
Christians
Birth Cohort
FIGURE 3
EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT
BY RELIGION AND COHORT OF BIRTH
Notes: Each year represents a birth cohort. I constructed 5-year window cohorts of birth centered
on heap years.
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19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
Birth Cohort
Muslims
19
26
19
31
19
36
19
41
19
46
19
51
19
56
19
61
19
66
19
71
19
76
.1
.2
Christian-Muslim Difference
.05
.15
.1
.2
.5
Christians
Birth Cohort
FIGURE 3 (CONTINUED)
EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT
BY RELIGION AND COHORT OF BIRTH
Notes: Each year represents a birth cohort. I constructed 5-year window cohorts of birth centered
on heap years.
Source: Egypts pooled 10-percent individual-level population census samples from 1986, 1996,
and 2006. The sample is restricted to Egyptian Christian and Muslim males who were born in
Egypt and aged between 30 and 60 years in 1986, 1996, or 2006, with non-missing values on age,
religion, province of birth, and education.
Because people do not remember their age, the age distribution in the
pooled 1986, 1996, and 2006 census sample exhibits heaps around multiSOHVRIYHDFRPPRQSUREOHPLQFHQVXVHVIURPGHYHORSLQJFRXQWULHV
To mitigate this problem, I constructed 5-year-window cohorts of birth
centered on heap years: 1926, 1931, and so on.
The left-hand-side panels of Figure 3 show that Christians in all
cohorts have, on average, more years of schooling, a higher literacy rate,
and a greater share of white-collar workers, than Muslims. Interestingly,
although there was secular improvement across cohorts of birth in
educational attainment (both years of schooling and literacy), occupational attainment, measured by the share of white-collar workers, deteriorated among both Christians and Muslims starting from the cohort
ERUQLQ,QRUGHUWRH[SORUHWKLVDQRPDORXVQGLQJLQPRUH
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710
Saleh
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(1)
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712
Saleh
The decennial estimates of t for the two outcomes are shown in the
two panels of Figure 4. Panel (A) suggests that the literacy gap between
non-Muslims and Muslims, which was initially in favor of non-Muslims,
dropped between 1937 and 1947, remained stable between 1947 and
1960, declined further between 1960 and 1976, and then remained
stable between 1976 and 1986. A 1-percentage point increase in nonMuslims population share is correlated, on average, with an increase in
the percentage of males who are able to read and write by 28 percentage
points in 1897 but by only 12 percentage points in 1986. The trend of the
inter-religious literacy gap is qualitatively robust to the inclusion of the
control variables.
Panel (B) shows that the occupational gap that was in favor of nonMuslims started to decline between 1960 and 1976. A 1-percentage point
increase in non-Muslims population share is correlated, on average, with
an increase in the percentage of males working in the non-agricultural
sector by 26 percentage points in 1927 but by only 3 percentage points
in 1986.
Overall, the estimated trends from the village/quarter-level censuses in
1897 to 1986 suggest that the inter-religious educational and occupational
gaps declined between 1960 and 1976. This seems to be consistent with
the trends across cohorts of birth of the inter-religious differences in the
average years of schooling, the literacy rate, and the percentage of whitecollar workers, which were documented in Figure 3, thus suggesting that
the convergence in Christians and Muslims educational and occupational attainment started from the cohort born in 19491953. Basically,
the observed village/quarter-level decline in the inter-religious educational and occupational gaps between 1960 and 1976 could be attributed
to the fact that most of the cohort born in 19491953 had completed
schooling and entered the labor market by 1976 (this cohort was aged 23
to 28 years in 1976).
Finally, it should be noted that both the 19862006 individual-level
census data and the 18971986 village/quarter-level census data demonstrate an earlier decline in the inter-religious literacy gap among the
cohorts born between 1929 and 1943 or between the census years 1937
and 1947. One may speculate that the earlier decline was caused by the
states policies since Egypts nominal independence in 1922 to expand
on, or improve the quality of, public schooling (Figures 1 and 2).12
It is not possible to examine the impact of the expansion of kuttabs between 1921/22 and
1927/28 that is shown in Figure 1 using the 1986, 1996, and 2006 census samples because the
ELUWKFRKRUWVWKDWZHUHSRLVHGWREHQHWIURPWKHH[SDQVLRQSUHVXPDEO\ERUQLQDUH
too old to be observed in 1986, 1996, or 2006.
12
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Coefficient (Basic
Controls: log(pop),
% females)
0.25
Coefficient
0.2
Coefficient (Adding
controls for percent
under 10 and percent
60 and above)
Coefficient (Adding
control for percent
foreigners)
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
1897
1907
1917
1927
1937
1947
1960
1976
1986
Year
Coefficient
0.2
0.1
0
1927
-0.1
1937
1947
1960
1976
1986
-0.2
Year
FIGURE 4
DECENNIAL MARGINAL EFFECTS OF NON-MUSLIMS POPULATION SHARE ON
MEAN EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT AT THE VILLAGE/
QUARTER-LEVEL IN 18971986
Notes: Panels (A) and (B) depict the decennial estimates of t from equation (1). Control variables
in panel (B) include: log (population), percentage of females, percentage of population aged
below 10, and percentage of population aged 60 and above.
Source: Egypts decennial village/quarter-level population censuses in 18971986 from CEDEJ
(2003).
HYPOTHESIS
714
Saleh
30
20
10
19
21
/2
2
19
24
/2
5
19
27
/2
8
19
30
/3
1
19
33
/3
4
19
36
/3
7
19
39
/4
0
19
42
/4
3
19
45
/4
6
19
48
/4
9
19
12
/1
3
19
06
/0
7
40
Christian
FIGURE 5
CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM STUDENT ENROLLMENT RATES IN 1907/081948/49
Notes: School-age population is the population aged from 5 to 19 years. Christian students in
modern schools include both Copts and non-Coptic Christians, while those in kuttabs are only
Copts (no information on non-Coptic Christian students in kuttabs). I computed Muslim and
Christian school-age population from the closest population census by multiplying the population
share of each religious group by the total school-age population.
Source: School censuses (Statistique Scolaire) from 1906/07 to 1948/49 and the population
censuses in 19071947.
modern schools to begin with? First, they were more likely to afford
tuition fees in non-free modern schools. Second, non-Muslim communities were over-represented in the ownership of Egyptian private modern
schools, which enrolled 27 percent and 7 percent of Christian and
Muslim students, respectively, in 1948/49. According to Figure 7, the
Coptic Christian community (7 percent of the population in 1947) owned
37 percent of Egyptian private modern schools, compared to 46 percent
owned by the Muslim community, which suggests that Christians were
relatively more active than Muslims in providing private modern education to their children and hence relied relatively less on public schools.
DATA
716
Saleh
A. Christians
60
20
21
19 /22
24
19 /25
27
19 /28
30
19 /31
33
19 /34
36
19 /37
39
19 /40
42
19 /43
45
19 /46
48
/4
9
19
19
12
/1
3
/0
7
06
19
21
19 /22
24
19 /25
27
19 /28
30
19 /31
33
19 /34
36
19 /37
39
19 /40
42
19 /43
45
19 /46
48
/4
9
19
19
12
/1
3
/0
7
06
19
40
60
40
20
80
80
B. Muslims
Kuttabs
Public
Kuttabs
Public
Private
Foreign
Private
Foreign
FIGURE 6
EDUCATIONAL CHOICES OF CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM STUDENTS IN
1907/081948/49
Source: Egypts school censuses (Statistique Scolaire) from 1907/08 to 1948/49.
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60
40
20
19
21
/2
2
19
24
/2
5
19
27
/2
8
19
30
/3
1
19
33
/3
4
19
36
/3
7
19
39
/4
0
19
42
/4
3
19
45
/4
6
19
48
/4
9
19
51
/5
2
19
12
/1
3
19
06
/0
7
Coptic
Other
FIGURE 7
COMPOSITION OF EGYPTIAN PRIVATE MODERN SCHOOLS IN 1906/071951/52
Source: Egypts school censuses (Statistique Scolaire) from 1906/07 to 1951/52.
due to infectious diseases per 1,000 population and (2) the number of
KRVSLWDO EHGV SHU SRSXODWLRQ , GLJLWL]HG ERWK YDULDEOHVIURP WKH
Annuaire Statistique 19491950 et 19501951 (1953, pp. 14477).
Table 1 shows the individual-level descriptive statistics for Christians
and Muslims along with the district-level statistics for the district-level
variables. Christians have, on average, more years of schooling and a
greater percentage of white-collar workers than Muslims. The average
shares of kuttabs in an individuals district of birth in 1951/52, out of the
total number of kuttabs and modern schools and of total male student
enrollment, are lower among Christians than Muslims, indicating that
modern schools were relatively more abundant in Christians districts of
birth. It seems, however, that there are no differences in health outcomes
in the district of birth in 1951/52 between Christians and Muslims.
EMPIRICAL STRATEGY
718
Saleh
TABLE 1
SUMMARY STATISTICS
Individual-Level Statistics
District-Level
Statistics
Christians
Muslims
Years of schooling
7.19
(6.38)
4.73
(5.80)
White-collar dummy
0.43
(0.50)
0.25
(0.43)
0.67
(0.24)
0.76
(0.23)
0.76
(0.23)
0.51
(0.28)
0.60
(0.26)
0.62
(0.26)
1.47
(0.54)
1.50
(0.62)
1.59
(1.03)
0.89
(0.83)
0.61
(0.74)
0.74
(1.85)
4.76
(5.24)
4.33
(5.44)
5.77
(9.50)
0.34
(0.48)
0.37
(0.51)
0.34
(0.56)
N (Full sample)
29,391
397,410
151
N (Workers sample)
27,291
365,229
151
(2)
720
Saleh
yirjt
(PPj dil )
l=2
+ ( X j d )
l=2
(C P d
l=2
(X C
l=2
il
) 2 l
d )
(3)
+ r + j + t + r
j + r
t + LUMW,
where dil is a dummy variable that indicates if an individual belongs to
cohort l, with l = 1 for the 1936 cohort (born in 19341937), which is the
base cohort, l = 2 for the 1941 cohort (born in 19381942), l = 3 for the
1946 cohort (born in 19431947), and l = 4 for the 1951 cohort (born in
15
The employment rate among Christians is 93 percent versus 92 percent among Muslims.
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7KHUHVXOWVRIWKHWKUHHVHWVRIUHJUHVVLRQVXVLQJWKHUVWPHDVXUHRI
the reform intensity, the districts relative share of kuttabs out of the total
number of schools in 1951/52, are shown in Tables 2, 3, and 4. I relegated
the results using the second measure of the reform intensity, the relative share of kuttabs out of total male student enrollment in 1951/52,
to Section B of the Online Appendix in order to save space. I show the
results on years of schooling for both the full sample and the workers
sample for comparison.
Table 2 shows the results on the experiment of interest. The 1951
1953 reform had a positive impact on Muslims educational and occupational attainment. Muslims born in high-reform districts (high share
of kuttabs) experienced, on average, differentially greater increases in
years of schooling and in the probability of working in a white-collar job
than their coreligionists from low-reform districts. For example, Muslims
born in districts at the third quartile of kuttabs share in 1951/52 (kuttabs
VKDUHLQFUHDVHGWKHLU\HDUVRIVFKRROLQJDQGWKHLUSUREDELOLW\RI
working in a white-collar job differentially more than their coreligionists
ZKRZHUHERUQLQGLVWULFWVDWWKHUVWTXDUWLOHkuttabsVKDUHE\
0.19 year and 4 percentage points, respectively, on average. The effects
on Muslims are robust to adding controls for districts baseline health
FKDUDFWHULVWLFVLQFROXPQVDQGVXJJHVWLQJWKDWWKHQGings are not driven by mean reversion in human capital across districts.
%\FRQWUDVWWKHUHIRUPKDGQRVWDWLVWLFDOO\VLJQLFDQWHIIHFW
on Christians years of schooling as 1 + 2 is positive but not statistically
GLIIHUHQWIURP]HURFROXPQVDQG$OWKRXJKWKHHIIHFWRQ&KULVWLDQV
probability of working in a white-collar job is positive and statistically
VLJQLFDQWLQFROXPQLWLVQRWUREXVWWRFRQWUROOLQJIRUGLVWULFWVKHDOWK
characteristics in 1951/52 in column 6.
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No
0.148
Adjusted R2
0.153
236,986
151
0.116
No
No
Yes
(3)
0.089
236,986
151
0.049
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.016
(0.042)
0.099***
(0.013)
White-Collar
Dummy
Workers Sample
(4)
0.148
256,253
151
0.702
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.599
(0.587)
0.366**
(0.160)
Years of
Schooling Full Sample
(5)
0.153
236,986
151
0.567
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.173
(0.595)
0.517***
(0.173)
Years of
Schooling
Workers Sample
(6)
0.089
236,986
151
0.429
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.043
(0.052)
0.083***
(0.015)
White-Collar
Dummy
Workers Sample
Notes: * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01. Standard errors clustered at the district of birth level are in parentheses. Baseline districts health characteristics include (1) the number
of fatalities and maladies due to infectious diseases per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52 and (2) the number of hospital beds per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52.
Source: Egypts 1986 10-percent individual-level population census sample merged with district-level data on schools and health characteristics from the Annuaire Statistique
19491950 et 19501951 (1953, pp. 14477, 26071). The sample is restricted to Egyptian Christian and Muslim males who were born in Egypt in 19381942 or 19481953 (aged
1115 or 05 in 1953), with non-missing values on age, religion, district of birth, and education.
256,253
Observations
151
No
Number of Districts
Yes
0.471
Yes
P-value (H0: 1 + 2 = 0)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.197
(0.499)
0.136
(0.497)
0.596***
(0.149)
0.512***
(0.142)
Christian
(2)
Years of
Schooling
Workers Sample
(1)
Years of
Schooling Full Sample
TABLE 2
IMPACT OF REFORM ON EDUCATIONAL AND OCCUPATIONAL ATTAINMENT BY RELIGION: EXPERIMENT OF INTEREST
722
Saleh
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No
0.163
Adjusted R2
Yes
0.173
142,623
150
0.313
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
(3)
0.115
142,623
150
0.065
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.075*
(0.044)
0.004
(0.017)
White-Collar
Dummy
Workers Sample
(4)
0.163
157,414
150
0.387
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.716
(0.796)
0.084
(0.201)
Years of
Schooling Full Sample
(5)
0.173
142,623
150
0.352
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.821
(0.810)
0.130
(0.211)
Years of
Schooling
Workers Sample
(6)
0.115
142,623
150
0.073
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.105*
(0.060)
0.007
(0.020)
White-Collar
Dummy
Workers Sample
Notes: * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01. Standard errors clustered at the district of birth level are in parentheses. Baseline districts health characteristics include (1) the number
of fatalities and maladies due to infectious diseases per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52 and (2) the number of hospital beds per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52.
Source: Egypts 1986 10-percent individual-level population census sample merged with district-level data on schools and health characteristics from the Annuaire Statistique
19491950 et 19501951 (1953, pp. 14477, 26071). The sample is restricted to Egyptian Christian and Muslim males who were born in Egypt between 1934 and 1942 (aged
1119 in 1953), with non-missing values on age, religion, district of birth, and education.
157,414
Observations
150
No
Number of Districts
Yes
0.346
Yes
P-value (H0: 1 + 2 = 0)
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.642
(0.590)
0.615
(0.563)
0.082
(0.184)
0.114
(0.175)
Christian
(2)
Years of
Schooling
Workers Sample
(1)
Years of
Schooling Full Sample
TABLE 3
PLACEBO TEST OF THE IMPACT OF THE REFORM
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Yes
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
0.902
(0.584)
0.583
(0.677)
0.954
(0.593)
0.981*
(0.569)
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.678
(0.584)
0.682
(0.559)
Yes
0.521***
(0.197)
0.407**
(0.184)
Yes
0.017
(0.228)
0.080
(0.221)
0.087
(0.185)
0.115
(0.176)
Christian
(2)
Years of
Schooling - Workers
(1)
Years of
Schooling - All
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.066
(0.046)
0.086
(0.052)
0.079*
(0.044)
0.102***
(0.019)
0.038*
(0.020)
0.003
(0.017)
White-Collar
- Workers
(3)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.263
(0.874)
1.053
(0.755)
0.865
(0.802)
0.275
(0.214)
0.136
(0.274)
0.091
(0.202)
Years of
Schooling - All
(4)
TABLE 4
IMPACT OF REFORM BY RELIGION AND COHORT OF BIRTH
(5)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.769
(0.758)
1.227
(0.832)
0.941
(0.810)
0.377
(0.233)
0.073
(0.279)
0.139
(0.212)
Years of
Schooling - Workers
(6)
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.073
(0.063)
0.128*
(0.074)
0.112*
(0.060)
0.075***
(0.022)
0.012
(0.024)
0.009
(0.020)
White-Collar Workers
724
Saleh
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No
0.000
0.001
No
0.000
0.001
P (H0: 14 12 = 0)
P (H0: 14 13 = 0)
Number of Districts
0.160
392,520
0.095
392,520
151
0.604
0.760
0.202
0.040
0.001
0.000
0.000
No
No
No
0.154
426,801
151
0.118
0.313
0.477
0.700
0.530
0.013
0.021
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.160
392,520
151
0.362
0.778
0.987
0.573
0.117
0.009
0.003
Yes
Yes
Yes
0.095
392,520
151
0.206
0.465
0.845
0.396
0.025
0.000
0.000
Yes
Yes
Yes
Notes: * p < 0.10, ** p < 0.05, *** p < 0.01. Standard errors clustered at the district of birth level are in parentheses. Baseline districts health characteristics include (1) the number
of fatalities and maladies due to infectious diseases per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52 and (2) the number of hospital beds per 1,000 individuals in 1951/52.
Source: Egypts 1986 10-percent individual-level population census sample merged with district-level data on schools and health characteristics from the Annuaire Statistique
19491950 et 19501951 (1953, pp. 14477, 26071). The sample is restricted to Egyptian Christian and Muslim males who were born in Egypt between 1934 and 1953 (aged
019 in 1953), with non-missing values on age, religion, district of birth, and education.
0.154
151
P (H0: 24 23 = 0)
Adjusted R2
0.904
0.368
P (H0: 24 22 = 0)
151
0.659
0.844
426,801
0.276
0.846
Observations
0.016
0.102
0.148
0.420
P (H0: 14 + 24 = 0)
No
No
No
No
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726
Saleh
There are a number of threats that could violate the identifying assumption of the effect of the 19511953 reform on Christians and Muslims in
equations (2) and (3). I address some of these threats below and I refer the
reader to Section C of the Online Appendix for the results of this section.
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728
Saleh
Measurement Error
There is a possibility of measurement error in observing years of
schooling. Basically, I measured years of schooling via assigning a
number of years to an individuals highest educational degree achieved.
However, I do not observe the actual years of schooling if an individual
dropped out of school between any two degrees. Thus, as a robustness
check, I re-estimated equation (2) using alternative educational outcomes
DVGHSHQGHQWYDULDEOHV,QSDUWLFXODU,FRQVWUXFWHGYHGXPP\YDULDEOHV
WKDWWDNHWKHYDOXHRIRQHLIDQLQGLYLGXDOLVOLWHUDWHQLVKHGDW
OHDVWSULPDU\VFKRROQLVKHGDWOHDVWSUHSDUDWRU\VFKRROQLVKHG
DWOHDVWVHFRQGDU\VFKRRODQGQLVKHGDWOHDVWXQLYHUVLW\HGXFDWLRQ
The results are shown in Table C.1 in the Online Appendix. Overall
the results are qualitatively similar to those in Table 2, except that the
reform seems to have had a negative effect on the probability of having
at least a university degree. Although the result seems paradoxical, it
may be because the 1964 employment guarantee that gave positions in
the government and public sector to graduates of both universities and
VHFRQGDU\ VFKRROV PD\ KDYH SURYLGHG LQFHQWLYHV WR QLVK VHFRQGDU\
schooling but fewer incentives to complete university education.
Mean Reversion
There is also a concern about the possibility of mean reversion in educational and occupational attainment across districts in the absence of the
reform. In order to mitigate this concern, I expanded the set of controls
for the baseline characteristics of districts in the vector Xj beyond the
two health variables by including four additional demographic variables
that I observe in the 1947 population census: (1) the logarithm of population, (2) the population share of non-Muslims, (3) the population share
of foreigners, and (4) the share of males in elementary/primary school
age (514 years) out of the total male population. The results are shown
in Table C.2 in the Online Appendix and are qualitatively similar to the
main results.
Relatedly, one may be concerned that the two measures of the reform
intensity are higher in districts that had a small total number of schools on
the onset of the reform. If those districts were rural, the results could then
be driven by rural-urban convergence even in the absence of the reform.
To this end, I re-estimated equation (3) for rural-born and urban-born
individuals separately. The results in Table C.3 in the Online Appendix
indicate that that the effects hold within each group, although they are
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730
Saleh
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732
Saleh
Apart from the public reforms in education, there were other reforms
that may have affected economic development more generally. Although
,ZDVXQDEOHWRQGKLVWRULFDOHYLGHQFHRQDQDWLRQDOSXEOLFKHDOWKSURJUDP
during the period, I controlled for health characteristics in each district
in 1951/52 and that did not affect the results. One could also suspect
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RIWKHFRQVWUXFWLRQRIWKH$VZDQ+LJK'DPPLJKWH[SODLQWKHQGLQJV
Yet, since the dam was completed in 1970 by the time that the treated
FRKRUWKDGDOUHDG\QLVKHGVFKRROLQJLWFDQQRWH[SODLQWKHLPSURYHPHQW
in educational attainment among this cohort.
CONCLUSION
Employing several novel data sources from Egypt, one of the largest
Middle Eastern countries, I examined the impact of the expansion of
public mass modern education in 19511953, which resulted from the
transformation of traditional elementary schools (kuttabs) into public
modern primary schools, on the long-standing Christian-Muslim educational and occupational differences, which were in favor of Christians.
7KHUHVXOWVDUHPL[HG,UVWGRFXPHQWHGWKDWWKHUHZDVDFRQVLGHUDEOH
convergence in educational and occupational attainment between the
two groups starting from the mid-twentieth century. I then found that the
UHIRUPKDGDSRVLWLYHDQGVWDWLVWLFDOO\VLJQLFDQWLPSDFWRQ
Muslims educational and occupational attainment but had no statistiFDOO\ VLJQLFDQW LPSDFW RQ &KULVWLDQV 1HYHUWKHOHVV LWV LPSDFWV RQ WKH
Christian-Muslim educational and occupational differentials are impreFLVHO\ PHDVXUHG DQG VWDWLVWLFDOO\ LQVLJQLFDQW , LQWHUSUHW WKH QGLQJV
as a result of the Christian-Muslim differences in students schooling
choices prior to 1951, as most Christian students were already enrolled
in modern schools, whereas most Muslim students were enrolled in
kuttabs.
The relative success of the 19511953 reform in improving Muslims
human capital outcomes is remarkable from a historical perspective
given the religion-neutral non-discriminatory nature of the reform.
,QGHHG VRPH UHHFWLRQ RQ WKH ORQJWHUP KLVWRU\ RI WKH SKHQRPHQRQ
may be helpful here in order to appreciate the impact of the reform.
The Christian-Muslim socioeconomic gap in Egypt persisted since the
Middle Ages and up to the early nineteenth century because of certain
institutions, such as guilds and religious schools, which made occupations largely hereditary within each religious group. Although Egypt
HPEDUNHGRQDVWDWHOHGPRGHUQL]DWLRQSURJUDPXQGHU0XKDPPDG$OL
3DVKDLQZKLFKSXEOLFPRGHUQVFKRROVZHUHUVWLQWURGXFHG
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734
Saleh
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http:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022050716000796
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