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Understanding Long‐Run African Growth: Colonial Institutions or Colonial Education

Bolt, Jutta LU and Bezemer, Dirk (2009) In Journal of Development Studies 45(1). p.24-24
Abstract
Long-term growth in developing countries has been explained in four frameworks: ‘extractive colonial institutions’ (Acemoglu et al., 2001), ‘colonial legal origin’ (La Porta et al., 2004), ‘geography’ (Gallup et al., 1998) and ‘colonial human capital’ (Glaeser et al., 2004). In this paper we test the ‘colonial human capital’ explanation for sub-Saharan Africa, controlling for legal origin and geography. Utilising data on colonial era education, we find that instrumented human capital explains long-term growth better, and shows greater stability over time, than instrumented measures for extractive institutions. We suggest that the impact of the disease environment on African long-term growth runs through a human capital channel rather than... (More)
Long-term growth in developing countries has been explained in four frameworks: ‘extractive colonial institutions’ (Acemoglu et al., 2001), ‘colonial legal origin’ (La Porta et al., 2004), ‘geography’ (Gallup et al., 1998) and ‘colonial human capital’ (Glaeser et al., 2004). In this paper we test the ‘colonial human capital’ explanation for sub-Saharan Africa, controlling for legal origin and geography. Utilising data on colonial era education, we find that instrumented human capital explains long-term growth better, and shows greater stability over time, than instrumented measures for extractive institutions. We suggest that the impact of the disease environment on African long-term growth runs through a human capital channel rather than an extractive-institutions channel. The effect of education is robust to including variables capturing legal origin and geography, which have additional explanatory power. (Less)
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author
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type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Development Studies
volume
45
issue
1
pages
54 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:58049092155
ISSN
0022-0388
DOI
10.1080/00220380802468603
language
English
LU publication?
no
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7421edb9-49c5-4ce5-ae94-e5199bee3702
date added to LUP
2022-01-20 11:54:27
date last changed
2022-04-27 07:22:51
@article{7421edb9-49c5-4ce5-ae94-e5199bee3702,
  abstract     = {{Long-term growth in developing countries has been explained in four frameworks: ‘extractive colonial institutions’ (Acemoglu et al., 2001), ‘colonial legal origin’ (La Porta et al., 2004), ‘geography’ (Gallup et al., 1998) and ‘colonial human capital’ (Glaeser et al., 2004). In this paper we test the ‘colonial human capital’ explanation for sub-Saharan Africa, controlling for legal origin and geography. Utilising data on colonial era education, we find that instrumented human capital explains long-term growth better, and shows greater stability over time, than instrumented measures for extractive institutions. We suggest that the impact of the disease environment on African long-term growth runs through a human capital channel rather than an extractive-institutions channel. The effect of education is robust to including variables capturing legal origin and geography, which have additional explanatory power.}},
  author       = {{Bolt, Jutta and Bezemer, Dirk}},
  issn         = {{0022-0388}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{24--24}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Journal of Development Studies}},
  title        = {{Understanding Long‐Run African Growth: Colonial Institutions or Colonial Education}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220380802468603}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/00220380802468603}},
  volume       = {{45}},
  year         = {{2009}},
}