Living standards and forced labour: A comparative study of colonial Africa, 1918–74

Leo Dolan

Economic History Review, 2025, vol. 78, issue 4, 1039-1067

Abstract: Despite significant advances in the quantitative study of African history, the Portuguese colonial empire remains an underexplored topic. This paper provides the first quantitative assessment of worker living standards in Angola and Mozambique, contextualized within a broader comparison of colonial African empires. Using the barebones subsistence basket method to construct welfare ratios, as well as focusing specifically on the African mining sector, this research offers a comprehensive cross‐temporal and cross‐geographical analysis. Key findings reveal two major patterns: until 1960, welfare ratios in the Portuguese empire were notably lower than in other territories, with this disparity widening after the Second World War. However, starting in the 1960s, welfare ratios in Angola and Mozambique began to rapidly and consistently increase, closing the gap that had widened in the post‐war period and achieving improvements in living standards within a few years that typically took decades to achieve elsewhere. The findings are then interpreted through an in‐depth case study approach, demonstrating how the persistence of forced labour systems under the Portuguese Empire contributed to the consistently low living standards of workers. The unexpected abolition of these coercive systems in 1961 marked the beginning of rapid improvements in living standards, underscoring the critical role of institutional changes within history. This research enhances our understanding of the functioning of coercive labour markets as well as of Africa's diverse colonial experiences.

Date: 2025
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