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How Africans Shaped British Colonial Institutions : Evidence from Local Taxation

Bolt, Jutta LU and Gardner, Leigh (2020) In Journal of Economic History 80(4). p.1189-1223
Abstract

The institutions that governed most of the rural population in British colonial Africa have been neglected in the literature on colonialism. We use new data on local governments, or "Native Authorities,"to present the first quantitative comparison of African institutions under indirect rule in four colonies in 1948: Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, and Kenya. Tax data show that Native Authorities' capacity varied within and between colonies, due to both underlying economic inequalities and African elites' relations with the colonial government. Our findings suggest that Africans had a bigger hand in shaping British colonial institutions than often acknowledged.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Economic History
volume
80
issue
4
pages
1189 - 1223
publisher
Cambridge University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85095990749
ISSN
0022-0507
DOI
10.1017/S0022050720000455
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
36cbdb9b-6520-4f4f-850f-72ff064e3f38
date added to LUP
2020-11-27 08:17:03
date last changed
2022-04-19 02:24:39
@article{36cbdb9b-6520-4f4f-850f-72ff064e3f38,
  abstract     = {{<p>The institutions that governed most of the rural population in British colonial Africa have been neglected in the literature on colonialism. We use new data on local governments, or "Native Authorities,"to present the first quantitative comparison of African institutions under indirect rule in four colonies in 1948: Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, and Kenya. Tax data show that Native Authorities' capacity varied within and between colonies, due to both underlying economic inequalities and African elites' relations with the colonial government. Our findings suggest that Africans had a bigger hand in shaping British colonial institutions than often acknowledged. </p>}},
  author       = {{Bolt, Jutta and Gardner, Leigh}},
  issn         = {{0022-0507}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{1189--1223}},
  publisher    = {{Cambridge University Press}},
  series       = {{Journal of Economic History}},
  title        = {{How Africans Shaped British Colonial Institutions : Evidence from Local Taxation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0022050720000455}},
  doi          = {{10.1017/S0022050720000455}},
  volume       = {{80}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}