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  3. American Economic Review
  4. July 2016
  5. The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa

The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa

  • Stelios Michalopoulos
  • Elias Papaioannou
American Economic Review
vol. 106, no. 7, July 2016
(pp. 1802-48)
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Abstract

We explore the consequences of ethnic partitioning, a neglected aspect of the Scramble for Africa, and uncover the following. First, apart from the land mass and water bodies, split and non-split groups are similar across several dimensions. Second, the incidence, severity, and duration of political violence are all higher for partitioned homelands which also experience frequent military interventions from neighboring countries. Third, split groups are often entangled in a vicious circle of government-led discrimination and ethnic wars. Fourth, respondents from survey data identifying with split ethnicities are economically disadvantaged. The evidence highlights the detrimental repercussions of the colonial border design.

Citation

Michalopoulos, Stelios, and Elias Papaioannou. 2016. "The Long-Run Effects of the Scramble for Africa." American Economic Review, 106 (7): 1802-48. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20131311

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D72 Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
  • D74 Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
  • F51 International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
  • J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
  • O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
  • O17 Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
  • Z13 Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification