The Political Economy of the Expropriation of Church Wealth in XIX Century Colombia

After independence in the early XIX century, the former Latin American colonies went through a chaotic and violent process of institutional change. Among the institutions they modified was the property rights for the Catholic... [ view full abstract ]

After independence in the early XIX century, the former Latin American colonies went through a chaotic and violent process of institutional change. Among the institutions they modified was the property rights for the Catholic Church, who was a powerful political player, through a reform known as the disentailment. This paper estimates the impact of the Colombian disentailment reform on political conflict. Using yearly data on the number of battles per municipality, archival information on the reform, and a difference-in-differences and matching estimation strategies, I document a reduction of political violence in places where the Church was expropriated, and show the reduction was concentrated in highly contested municipalities. The results are robust to several checks. This paper contests the traditional idea of the disentailment as a source of political violence by highlighting the alliance between the Conservative party and the Church, and the change in the landed elites' incentives to engage in violence. In an environment where elites competed over the rents from power, the modernisation of institutions lead, at least temporarily, to a less violent environment by undermining the bargaining potential of a traditionally powerful group, the Catholic Church.