Further evidence on the link between pre-colonial political centralization and comparative economic development in Africa

Stelios Michalopoulos and Elias Papaioannou

Economics Letters, 2015, vol. 126, issue C, 57-62

Abstract: We examine the link between pre-colonial statehood and contemporary regional African development, as reflected in satellite images on light density at night. We employ a variety of historical maps to capture the former. Our within-country analysis reveals a strong positive correlation between pre-colonial political centralization and contemporary development (and urbanization). If anything, the association strengthens when we account for measurement error on the historical maps of pre-colonial political organization.

Keywords: Ethnicity; Development; Institutions; State capacity; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 O40 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Working Paper: Further Evidence on the Link between Pre-Colonial Political Centralization and Comparative Economic Development in Africa (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:126:y:2015:i:c:p:57-62

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2014.10.017

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