Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development

Mark Dincecco, James Fenske and Massimiliano Onorato

Economic History of Developing Regions, 2019, vol. 34, issue 2, 209-250

Abstract: We show new evidence that the consequences of historical warfare for state development differ for Sub-Saharan Africa. We identify the locations of more than 1,600 conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Europe from 1400 to 1799. We find that historical warfare predicts common-interest states defined by high fiscal capacity and low civil conflict across much of the Old World. For Sub-Saharan Africa, historical warfare predicts special-interest states defined by high fiscal capacity and high civil conflict. Our results offer new evidence about where and when ‘war makes states’.

Date: 2019
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Working Paper: Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development (2015)
Working Paper: Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development (2014)
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DOI: 10.1080/20780389.2019.1586528

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