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Obstacles to progress

Distortions

larger impact of Protestant missions relative to Catholic missions on education is
consistent with the previous findings of Gallego and Woodberry (2010).

Interestingly, these findings, which are an average across the full Afrobarometer sample,
mask stark differences of the impacts by gender. The positive impact of Protestant
missions is concentrated almost solely among females. Protestant missions are

estimated to have a small positive and insignificant effect on male education and a large
significant positive effect on female education. The positive but insignificant impact of

Catholic missions on education is composed of a large and significant positive impact
on male education, but a precisely estimated zero effect on female education. These
findings are consistent with the greater importance placed on the education of women

by Protestants relative to Catholics.”
"Gender and Missionary Influence in Colonial Africa," n.d., 25. 349
Nunn, Nathan, and Harvard University.
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“ The empirical results show that descendants of ethnic groups that experienced greater
missionary contact are today more likely to self-identify as Christian. This correlation

provides evidence that foreign missionaries altered the religious beliefs of Africans, and
that these beliefs persist as they are passed on from parents to children. Put differently,

the results show that historic events can have a lasting impact on culture “
"Religious Conversion in Colonial Africa." 350
American Economic Review 100, no. 2 (May 1, 2010): 147–52.
Nunn, Nathan.

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“ Overall, the relationship between colonial Protestant missions and post-colonial
democracy is very strong. Much of the previous empirical research about factors that

influence political democracy has focused on economic development, British
colonialism, Islam, European settlement, climate, and island status. However, the
missions variables in this analysis remove all of these other factors. In fact, only

Protestant missions and education are significantly associated with democracy.
Moreover, research in chapter 3 demonstrates that even much post-colonial education is

rooted in colonial Protestant missions activity “
Woodberry, Robert. "The Shadow of Empire:," n.d., 288. 351
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