Africa's Slave Trade and its Long-term Impact on Militarism and Institutions

Recent studies show that significant historical events, particularly the slave trade, had an impact on contemporary African economies. The transmission mechanisms, however, are not well established. The purpose of the present paper is to consider two such transmission mechanisms, notably militarism and economic institutions. The present paper explores the impact of the historical slave trade, or exports, on institutions in two ways. Firstly, its impact on contemporary militarism as a political institution and, secondly, its impact on economic institutions, in particular property rights enforcement. The analysis uniquely shows the causal link between an important aspect of the historical slave trade, notably the import of military arms, and current African institutions. Finally, we also show that contemporary militarism, especially in the affected African economies, has a direct impact on their incomes.