We study the role of denominational competition in the expansion of higher education in the nineteenth-century United States. We document that nearly all colleges established in this period were affiliated with a Christian denomination. Empirical analysis reveals a robust positive relationship between the denominational fragmentation of the county and the number of colleges established. We take several steps to rule out competing explanations and also highlight the causal channel by utilizing two historical case studies. We conclude by estimating a model of school choice and showing that students exhibited strong preferences to attend same-denominational colleges in terms of willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-travel. Therefore, we argue that religious diversity softened the extent of tuition competition between institutions and precipitated an “excess” entry of schools.

我们研究宗派竞争在 19 世纪美国高等教育扩张中的作用。我们记录了这一时期建立的几乎所有大学都隶属于基督教教派。实证分析揭示了该县的教派分裂与所建立的大学数量之间存在稳健的正相关关系。我们采取几个步骤来排除相互矛盾的解释，并通过利用两个历史案例研究来强调因果关系。我们通过估计学校选择模型得出结论，并表明学生在支付意愿和旅行意愿方面表现出强烈偏好进入同一教派的大学。所以，