Institutions, attitudes and LGBT: Evidence from the gold rush

摘要: Abstract This paper relates the size of present-day LGBT population to discovery gold during nineteenth century rushes. Comparing surroundings rush counties other mining counties, we find that there are currently 15% more same-sex couples in former and residents these have favorable attitudes toward homosexuality. Gold were initially isolated, mostly uninhabited lacked strong formal institutions, which helped shaping pro-LGBT attitudes. Examining channels persistence, provide empirical evidence for selective migration lack religious institutions.