Does rice cultivation induce better math institutions?

Abstract

This paper studies the link between historical rice cultivation and the ‘math quality’ of institutions in Chinese provinces. To address potential endogeneity concerns, we use Rice Suitability as an instrumental variable for rice cultivation. We find strong evidence of causal relationship between historical rice cultivation and institutions 'math quality', even after addressing potential endogeneity concerns and micronumerosity issues. Our findings suggest a novel perspective over conventional determinants of educational quality and evidence of a new potential long-term effect of rice cultivation.