This article examines rural settlement in Constantine, a département in French Algeria, at the beginning of the 1900s. By taking into account the timing of colonial settlement for almost 100 municipalities, it shows how the changing geographical conditions and the relative quantities of land and labour shaped the colonial land policy and settler modes of production. As fertile land grew scarcer on the settlement ‘frontier’, the ability of settlers to participate in the export market was increasingly dependent on the capacity to make use of modern agricultural techniques that required larger fields and intensive labour. Thus, the outcome of rural settlement was determined by the relative abundance of indigenous labour and the adaptation of the land policy to Algeria's agricultural needs. The results demonstrate that—even within a country itself and during the settlement process—the colonial land policy and settler modes of production change significantly, depending on the region being occupied.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

A large literature on favouritism argues that leaders favour their own ethnicity or administrative birthplace. We question the assumption that these leaders are exogenously selected for office. Using historical censuses from 11 African countries, we show that leaders are selected from more advanced regions. In other words, our sample shows that African leaders were created by colonial (and pre‐colonial) institutions, which often meant large educational differences between regions. Our paper's historical perspective shows that these often‐overlooked institutions can account for much of the variation in post‐colonial outcomes. Favouritism was at least partially endogenous.