Abstract
In this paper, we analyze the connection between the history of colonial rule and postcolonial development in Africa. We focus on the fact that many African colonies were governed by indirect rule. Under indirect rule, indigenous people are divided into two groups: a privileged ruling group and an unprivileged ruled group. Our model assumes that the ruled group cannot observe how the resources appropriated from them are divided between the colonial ruler and the ruling group. In this economy, excessive exploitation by the colonial ruler creates distrust among indigenous groups and a negative effect on postcolonial economic and political development.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. (2001). The colonial origins of comparative development: an empirical investigation. American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401.
Adekanye, J. B. (1996). Rwanda/Burundi: ‘uni-ethnic’ dominance and the cycle of armed ethnic formation. Social Identities, 2(1), 37–72.
Beck, L. J. (1997). Senegal’s “patrimonial democrats”: incremental reform and the obstacles to the consolidation of democracy. Canadian Journal of African Studies, 31(1), 1–31.
Beck, L. J. (2001). Reining in the marabouts? Democratization and local governance in Senegal. African Affairs, 100(401), 601–621.
Berman, B. J. (1998). Ethnicity, patronage and the African state: the politics of uncivil nationalism. African Affairs, 97(388), 305–341.
Bertocchi, G., & Canova, F. (2002). Did colonization matter for growth? An empirical exploration into the historical causes of Africa’s underdevelopment. European Economic Review, 46(10), 1851–1871.
Betts, R. F., & Asiwaju, M. (1985). Methods and institutions of European domination. In: A. A. Boahen (Ed.), General history of Africa, VII: Africa under colonial domination 1880–1935 (pp. 312–331). Heinemann: Heinemann Educational Books.
Bleich, E. (2005). The legacies of history? Colonization and immigrant integration in Britain and France. Theory and Society, 34(2), 171–195.
Boone, C. (1998). State building in the African countryside: structure and politics at the grassroots. Journal of Development Studies, 34(4), 1–31.
Collier, P., & Hoeffler, A. (2004). Greed and grievance in civil war. Oxford Economic Papers, 56(4), 563–595.
Crowder, M. (1964). Indirect rule—French and British style. Africa, 34(3), 197–205.
Elbadawi, I., & Sambanis, N. (2000). Why are there so many civil war in Africa? Understanding and preventing violent conflict. Journal of African Economies, 9(3), 244–269.
Fanthorpe, R. (2001). Neither citizen nor subject? ‘Lumpen’ agency and the legacy of native administration in Sierra Leone. African Affairs, 100(400), 363–386.
Fearon, J. D., & Laitin, D. D. (2003). Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war. American Political Science Review, 97(1), 75–90.
Gennaioli, N., & Rainer, I. (2007). The modern impact of precolonial centralization in Africa. Journal of Economic Growth, 12(3), 185–234.
Grier, R. M. (1999). Colonial legacies and economic growth. Public Choice, 98(3–4), 317–335.
Hall, R. E., & Jones, C. I. (1999). Why do some countries produce so much more output per worker than others?. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(1), 83–116.
Knack, S., & Keefer, P. (1995). Institutions and economic performance: cross-country tests using alternative institutional measures. Economics and Politics, 7(3), 207–227.
Lange, M. (2004). British colonial legacies and political development. World Development, 32(6), 905–922.
Mamdani, M. (1996). Citizen and subject: decentralized despotism and the legacy of late colonialism. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Mamdani, M. (2001). A brief history of genocide. Transition, 10(3), 26–47.
Mauro, P. (1995). Corruption and growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(3), 681–712.
Miyaji, K. (1978). A modern history of Africa. Tokyo: Yamakawa Shuppansha (in Japanese).
Newbury, C. (1983). Colonialism, ethnicity, and rural political protest: Rwanda and Zanzibar in comparative perspective. Comparative Politics, 15(3), 253–280.
Newbury, C. (1988). The cohesion of oppression: clientship and ethnicity in Rwanda, 1860–1960. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nunn, N. (2007). Historical legacies: a model linking Africa’s past to its current underdevelopment. Journal of Development Economics, 83(1), 157–175.
Nwaubani, E. (1994). Chieftaincy among the Igbo: a guest on the center-stage. International Journal of African Historical Studies, 27(2), 347–371.
Rodrik, D., Subramanian, A., & Trebbi, F. (2004). Institutions rule: the primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development. Journal of Economic Growth, 9(2), 131–165.
Sambanis, N. (2002). A review of recent advances and future directions in the quantitative literature on civil war. Defence and Peace Economics, 13(3), 215–243.
Takeuchi, S. (2004). Two conflicts in Rwanda: what made genocide possible? Shakaikagaku Kenkyu, 55(5–6), 101–129 (in Japanese).
Thompson, L. (2001). A history of South Africa. New Haven: Yale Nota Bene/Yale University Press.
Tull, D. M. (2003). A reconfiguration of political order? The state of the state in North Kivu (DR Congo). African Affairs, 102(408), 429–446.
Uvin, P. (1999). Ethnicity and power in Burundi and Rwanda: different paths to mass violence. Comparative Politics, 31(3), 253–271.
Young, C. (2004). The end of the post-colonial state in Africa? Reflections on changing African political dynamics. African Affairs, 103(410), 23–49.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mizuno, N., Okazawa, R. Colonial experience and postcolonial underdevelopment in Africa. Public Choice 141, 405–419 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9461-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-009-9461-8