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The African Slave Trade and Modern Household Finance

Author

Listed:
  • Ross Levine
  • Chen Lin
  • Wensi Xie

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of the African slave trade between 1400 and 1900 on modern household finance. Exploiting cross-country and cross-ethnic group differences in the intensity with which people were enslaved and exported from Africa, we find that slave exports during the 1400–1900 period are negatively associated with current measures of household (a) access to financial services, (b) access to credit, (c) use of mobile finance and (d) trust in financial institutions, suggesting that the slave trade has had an enduring, deleterious effect on household finance.

Suggested Citation

  • Ross Levine & Chen Lin & Wensi Xie, 2020. "The African Slave Trade and Modern Household Finance," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(630), pages 1817-1841.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:130:y:2020:i:630:p:1817-1841.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/ueaa015
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Lu, Weijie & Niu, Geng & Zhou, Yang, 2021. "Individualism and financial inclusion," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 268-288.
    2. Adjisse, Sossou Simplice, 2022. "The Legacy of the Transatlantic and Indian Ocean Slave Trades on Contemporary Intent to Migrate in Africa," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322512, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Alexander Donges & Jean-Marie Meier & Rui C. Silva, 2023. "The Impact of Institutions on Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(4), pages 1951-1974, April.
    4. Hou, Wenxuan & Li, Mao & Main, Brian G.M. & Liu, Xiaofan, 2023. "Pandemics and financial development: A lesson from the 1918 influenza pandemic," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Yabibal M. Walle, 2023. "Social Cohesion and Firms’ Access to Finance in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 27-46, June.
    6. Artur Pazdzior & Adrian Majek, 2021. "Impact of COVID-19 on Household’s Financial Situation in Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 2), pages 492-502.
    7. Happel, Jonas & Karabulut, Yigitcan & Schäfer, Larissa & Tüzel, Şelale, 2024. "Shattered housing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    8. An, Jiafu & Hou, Wenxuan & Lin, Chen, 2022. "Epidemic disease and financial development," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 332-358.
    9. Liu, Xianda & Hou, Wenxuan & Main, Brian G.M., 2022. "Anti-market sentiment and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from anti-Jewish pogroms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    10. Idrees Liaqat & Yongqiang Gao & Faheem Ur Rehman & Zoltán Lakner & Judit Oláh, 2022. "National Culture and Financial Inclusion: Evidence from Belt and Road Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    11. Nicola Limodio & Francesco Strobbe, 2023. "Liquidity Requirements, Bank Deposits and Financial Development," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(357), pages 240-270, January.

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