Extractive Institutional Structure and Economic Development: Evidence from Nigeria

Karim Khan

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: The institutional perspective of cross-country differences in economic outcomes gives contrasting explanations on the persistence of extractive institutions in developing countries. Colonization, social fragmentation and the existence and use of natural resources are the most frequently discussed causes in the available literature. In this study, we analyze all the three explanations together by providing a case study of Nigeria. Nigeria is characterized by colonial legacy, social divide revealed by ethnicity and religion, and huge windfalls from oil. Based on our analysis, we argue that the lack and incoherence of formal institutional order is the main factor for Nigerian underdevelopment. Ethnic politics has shaped the formal institutional framework as a central stage for the disbursement of patronage and other types of the largesse. Colonial legacy has reinforced the effect of ethnicity by failing to provide a national ideology; and instead, providing a regional structure to rule. Similarly, the windfalls from oil have intensified the effect of ethnicity by invoking civil conflicts, arising mainly from the distribution of common pool. Thus, no single factor on its own can explain the persistence of extractive institutions; rather, it is the combination of exogenous and endogenous factors that collectively shape institutions.

Keywords: Extractive Institutions; Economic Development; Colonization; Social Fragmentation; Natural resources; Nigeria (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E0 E01 O43 O55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-ene, nep-gro, nep-his and nep-mac
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