Discussion paper

DP10258 Further Evidence on the Link between Pre-Colonial Political Centralization and Comparative Economic Development in Africa

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.

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Citation

Papaioannou, E and S Michalopoulos (2014), ‘DP10258 Further Evidence on the Link between Pre-Colonial Political Centralization and Comparative Economic Development in Africa‘, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 10258. CEPR Press, Paris & London. https://cepr.org/publications/dp10258