Pre-Colonial Ethnic Institutions and Contemporary African Development

63 Pages Posted: 14 Jul 2012 Last revised: 19 Apr 2023

See all articles by Stelios Michalopoulos

Stelios Michalopoulos

Brown University - Department of Economics; Brown University

Elias Papaioannou

London Business School; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Date Written: July 2012

Abstract

We investigate the role of deeply-rooted pre-colonial ethnic institutions in shaping comparative regional development within African countries. We combine information on the spatial distribution of ethnicities before colonization with regional variation in contemporary economic performance, as proxied by satellite images of light density at night. We document a strong association between pre-colonial ethnic political centralization and regional development. This pattern is not driven by differences in local geographic features or by other observable ethnic-specific cultural and economic variables. The strong positive association between pre-colonial political complexity and contemporary development obtains also within pairs of adjacent ethnic homelands with different legacies of pre-colonial political institutions.

Suggested Citation

Michalopoulos, Stelios and Papaioannou, Elias, Pre-Colonial Ethnic Institutions and Contemporary African Development (July 2012). NBER Working Paper No. w18224, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2105969

Stelios Michalopoulos (Contact Author)

Brown University - Department of Economics ( email )

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Brown University ( email )

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Providence, RI 02912
United States

Elias Papaioannou

London Business School ( email )

Sussex Place
Regent's Park
London, London NW1 4SA
United Kingdom

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) ( email )

London
United Kingdom

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