Colonial Extraction and Institution in Africa: Empirical Test of the Hypothesis of Acemoglu-Johnson-Robinson

Abstract

This paper provides new empirical evidences to the Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson’s hypothesis that extraction colonies led to the development of poor-quality institutions. To proceed, we use an original dataset that contains a variable measuring the level of colonial extraction. We link this variable to another that captures the quality of institutions. Our empirical results confirm the above-mentioned hypothesis and are statistically robust.

Keywords: Natural Resources, Rents, Institution, Africa, Colonial Extraction

JEL Classification: P48, Q34, Q33