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The modern impact of precolonial centralization in Africa

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Abstract

We empirically assess the possibility, stressed by African scholars, that stronger precolonial political institutions allowed colonial and postcolonial African governments to better implement modernization programs in rural areas. Using anthropological data, we document a strong positive association between the provision of public goods such as education, health, and infrastructure in African countries and the centralization of their ethnic groups’ precolonial institutions. We develop an empirical test to distinguish among alternative explanations for this finding. The evidence supports the view that precolonial centralization improved public goods provision by increasing the accountability of local chiefs. Our results stress the importance for developing countries to create mechanisms to monitor local administrators of public projects. These mechanisms should be consistent with these countries’ preexisting and informal arrangements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of International Economic Studies, Stockholm University, Stockholm, 10691, Sweden

    Nicola Gennaioli

  2. George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 1D3, Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA

    Ilia Rainer

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  1. Nicola Gennaioli
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  2. Ilia Rainer
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Gennaioli, N., Rainer, I. The modern impact of precolonial centralization in Africa. J Econ Growth 12, 185–234 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9017-z

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