The Slave Trade and Conflict in Africa, 1400-2000

Levi Boxell, John Dalton () and Tin Cheuk Leung

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Can the slave trade explain Africa's propensity for conflict? Using variation in slave exports driven by the interaction between foreign demand shocks and heterogeneity in trade costs, we show that the slave trade increased conflict propensities in pre-colonial Africa and that this effect has persisted to the present. Moreover, we find empirical evidence suggesting two related mechanisms for this persistence--natural resources and national institutions. These results "decompress" history by connecting the short-run and long-run effects of the African slave trade.

Keywords: slave trade; conflict; resource curse; institutions; Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N47 N57 O13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-06-13
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-afr, nep-dev, nep-evo, nep-gro, nep-his and nep-int
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:94468

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