Tracking Path – Dependent Patterns in Spanish American Colonial Legacy

Abstract

Some of Spanish American countries have maintained their level of growth and development in respect to each other for over a century. This article terms this endurance of development as result of path-dependence heritage of colonial history of Spain in America. Those territories that established as hubs of the colonial kingdom would in general become the area's least developed nations; on the other hand, those regions that were peripheral to the Spanish domain would in general become the most developed nations. Analyzing multiple socio-economic indicators alongside surveying correlational causation, the article discovers the concentration of the native populace and the presence of liberal elites alongside rigorous/ loose colonial penetration between 1700 to 1850 were critical factors linked to enduring development patterns in colonial and post-colonial Spanish America.