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Development Interventions in Africa’s Historical Borderlands : Evidence from Colonial Missions

L. Cermeño, Alexandra LU orcid ; Quintigliano, Alessandra and Weisdorf, Jacob LU (2026) In CAGE Working Papers
Abstract
Africa's historical borderlands are persistently associated with low levels of economic development. This paper examines how these regions respond to development interventions, analysing whether the long-run development advantage associated with colonial Christian missions persists near historical homeland borders. Combining georeferenced data on 3,365 pioneering mission stations with high-resolution satellite night-time luminosity data, we show that the positive association between proximity to missionary activity and contemporary economic development weakens sharply in these borderland areas. This result is robust across a wide range of specifications and is corroborated by evidence on household wealth and human capital from the... (More)
Africa's historical borderlands are persistently associated with low levels of economic development. This paper examines how these regions respond to development interventions, analysing whether the long-run development advantage associated with colonial Christian missions persists near historical homeland borders. Combining georeferenced data on 3,365 pioneering mission stations with high-resolution satellite night-time luminosity data, we show that the positive association between proximity to missionary activity and contemporary economic development weakens sharply in these borderland areas. This result is robust across a wide range of specifications and is corroborated by evidence on household wealth and human capital from the Demographic and Health Surveys Program. Our findings suggest that the success of development initiatives in the historical borderlands reflects not only the interventions themselves, but also the institutional environments in which they were implemented. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Africa, Missionaries, development, borderlands, night-time luminosity, spatial analysis
in
CAGE Working Papers
issue
822/2026
ISSN
2978-0276
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ac8d7465-0b17-4f95-be9a-4b4f3e7d1ba8
alternative location
https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/wp822.2026.pdf
date added to LUP
2026-08-31 21:37:50
date last changed
2026-09-01 08:53:26
@misc{ac8d7465-0b17-4f95-be9a-4b4f3e7d1ba8,
  abstract     = {{Africa's historical borderlands are persistently associated with low levels of economic development. This paper examines how these regions respond to development interventions, analysing whether the long-run development advantage associated with colonial Christian missions persists near historical homeland borders. Combining georeferenced data on 3,365 pioneering mission stations with high-resolution satellite night-time luminosity data, we show that the positive association between proximity to missionary activity and contemporary economic development weakens sharply in these borderland areas. This result is robust across a wide range of specifications and is corroborated by evidence on household wealth and human capital from the Demographic and Health Surveys Program. Our findings suggest that the success of development initiatives in the historical borderlands reflects not only the interventions themselves, but also the institutional environments in which they were implemented.}},
  author       = {{L. Cermeño, Alexandra and Quintigliano, Alessandra and Weisdorf, Jacob}},
  issn         = {{2978-0276}},
  keywords     = {{Africa; Missionaries; development; borderlands; night-time luminosity; spatial analysis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{822/2026}},
  series       = {{CAGE Working Papers}},
  title        = {{Development Interventions in Africa’s Historical Borderlands : Evidence from Colonial Missions}},
  url          = {{https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/wp822.2026.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}