Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0

Author-Name: Merima Ali 
Author-Name: Odd-Helge Fjeldstad 
Author-Name: Boqian Jiang 
Author-Name: Abdulaziz B. Shifa 
Title: Colonial legacy, state-building and the salience of ethnicity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract:  Ethnicity has received increased attention in studies of Africa's economic and institutional development. We present evidence on the long-term effects of Britain's "divide-and-rule" colonial strategy that deliberately fostered ethnic rivalries to weaken and control locals. Using micro data from Sub-Saharan Africa, we found that citizens of Anglophone (as compared to Francophone) countries are more likely to:  (1) attach greater importance to ethnic identity (vis-a-vis national identity); (2) have weaker norms against tax evasion; and  (3) face extortion by non state actors.  We address endogeneity concerns using IV regression and regression-discontinuity. These results suggest that Britain's divide-and-rule strategy may have undermined state-building. 

Length: 40 pages
Creation-Date: 2015 
File-URL: https://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5688-colonial-legacy-state-building-and-the-salience.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf 

Number: 16
Keywords: Colonial legacy, development, ethnicity, state capacity, Sub-Saharan
Africa, tax, tax evasion
Classification-JEL: 

Handle: RePEc:chm:wpaper:wp2015-16