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Long-Term Consequences of Colonial Institutions and Human Capital Investments: Sub-National Evidence from Madagascar

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  • Wietzke, Frank-Borge

Abstract

This study from Madagascar exploits local variation in the timing and organization of colonial settlement and missionary education to distinguish long-run effects of colonial institutions and human capital. Results indicate that only colonial institutions had robust impacts on local economic outcomes. Analysis of transmission mechanisms suggests that these effects are explained by higher-quality property rights institutions, but not by persistence in economic activities like the production of cash crops. There are also indications that migration-induced human capital spill-overs from missionary areas contributed to superior outcomes in former settler districts.

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  • Wietzke, Frank-Borge, 2015. "Long-Term Consequences of Colonial Institutions and Human Capital Investments: Sub-National Evidence from Madagascar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 293-307.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:66:y:2015:i:c:p:293-307
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.08.010
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    2. Sascha O. Becker & Jared Rubin & Ludger Woessmann, 2020. "Religion in Economic History: A Survey," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 480, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    3. Roessler, Philip & Pengl, Yannick I. & Marty, Robert & Titlow, Kyle Sorlie & van de Walle, Nicolas, 2022. "The cash crop revolution, colonialism and economic reorganization in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Toews, Gerhard & Vezina, Pierre-Louis, 2020. "Enemies of the people," SocArXiv gnypr, Center for Open Science.
    5. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Omar S. Dahi & Firat Demir, 2017. "South–South And North–South Economic Exchanges: Does It Matter Who Is Exchanging What And With Whom?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1449-1486, December.
    6. O. Ravaka Andriamihaja & Florence Metz & Julie G. Zaehringer & Manuel Fischer & Peter Messerli, 2019. "Land Competition under Telecoupling: Distant Actors’ Environmental versus Economic Claims on Land in North-Eastern Madagascar," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-23, February.
    7. Becker, Sascha O. & Pfaff, Steven, 2022. "Church and State in historical political economy," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1409, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    8. Sazzadul Arefin, 2019. "Geographic Endowment, Corruption, and Economic Development," Business and Economic Research, Macrothink Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, March.
    9. Park, Albert Sanghoon, 2017. "Does the Development Discourse Learn from History?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 52-64.
    10. Jedwab, Remi & Meier zu Selhausen, Felix & Moradi, Alexander, 2021. "Christianization without economic development: Evidence from missions in Ghana," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 190(C), pages 573-596.
    11. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Historical Legacies and African Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 53-128, March.
    12. Aparicio, Sebastian & Audretsch, David & Noguera, Maria & Urbano, David, 2022. "Can female entrepreneurs boost social mobility in developing countries? An institutional analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).

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