Borders that Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo since Colonial Times

Denis Cogneau () and Alexander Moradi

Working Paper Series from Department of Economics, University of Sussex Business School

Abstract: When European powers partitioned Africa, individuals of otherwise homogeneous communities were divided and found themselves randomly assigned to one coloniser. This provides for a natural experiment: applying a border discontinuity analysis to Ghana and Togo, we test what impact coloniser’s policies really made. Using a new data set of men recruited to the Ghana colonial army 1908-1955, we find literacy and religious beliefs to diverge between British and French mandated part of Togoland as early as in the 1920s. We attribute this to the different policies towards missionary schools. The British administration pursued a ”grant-in-aid” policy of missionary schools, whereas the French restricted missionary activities. The divergence is only visible in the Southern part. In the North, as well as at the border between Ghana and Burkina Faso (former French Upper Volta), educational and evangelization efforts were weak on both sides and hence, did not produce any marked differences. Using contemporary survey data we find that border effects originated at colonial times still persist today.

Keywords: Economic History; Africa; Colonization; Education. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O12 P52 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev, nep-edu and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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http://www.sussex.ac.uk/economics/documents/wps-29-2011.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Borders That Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo Since Colonial Times (2014)
Working Paper: Borders that Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo since Colonial Times (2014)
Working Paper: Borders that Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo since Colonial Times (2014)
Working Paper: Borders that Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo since Colonial Times (2013)
Working Paper: Borders that Divide: Education and Religion in Ghana and Togo since Colonial Times (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sus:susewp:2911

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