The Slave Trade and Conflict in Africa, 1400-2000

Boxell, Levi; Dalton, John T.; Leung, Tin Cheuk

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3403796

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…This paper contributes to four strands of literature. First, this paper contributes to the literature on the economics of conflicts, being closely connected to research on the historical origins of contemporary conflicts (Arbatlı et al 2020;Boxell et al 2019;Besley and Reynal-Querol 2014;Depetris-Chauvin 2015;Depetris-Chauvin and Özak 2020;Heldring 2021;Jha 2013;Michalopoulos and Papaioannou 2016;Moscona et al 2020). In particular, Depetris-Chauvin (2015) and Heldring (2021), which examine the relationship between historical states and contemporary conflicts, are most relevant to our work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…However, Brecke (1999) includes many conflicts that indicate only larger ethnic groups (e.g., Fulani) or larger areas (e.g., Sierra Leone) that may have been related to historical states. As additional sources, we make use of information about locations of conflict from Fenske and Kala (2017) and Boxell et al (2019). Fenske and Kala (2017) provides the information about conflicts between 1700 and 1900.…”

Section: Contemporary Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Golden City on the Edge: Economic Geography and Jihad over Centuries

Kubo¹,

Tsuda²

2022

Preprint

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This paper uncovers the evolution of cities and Islamist insurgencies, so called jihad, in the process of the reversal of fortune over the centuries. In West Africa, water access in ancient periods predicts the locations of the core cities of inland trade routes-the trans-Saharan caravan routes-founded up to the 1800s, when historical Islamic states played significant economic roles before European colonization. In contrast, ancient water access does not have a persistent influence on contemporary city formation and economic activities. After European colonization and the invention of modern trading technologies, along with the constant shrinking of water sources, landlocked pre-colonial core cities contracted or became extinct. Employing an instrumental variable strategy, we show that these deserted locations have today been replaced by battlefields for jihadist organizations. We argue that the power relations between Islamic states and the European military during the 19th century colonial era shaped the persistence of jihadist ideology as a legacy of colonization. Investigations into religious ideology related to jihadism, using individual-level surveys from Muslims, support this mechanism. Moreover, the concentration of jihadist violence in "past-core-and-present-periphery" areas in West Africa is consistent with a global-scale phenomenon. Finally, spillovers of violent events beyond these stylized locations are partly explained by organizational heterogeneity among competing factions (Al Qaeda and the Islamic State) over time.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Section: Contemporary Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Golden City on the Edge: Economic Geography and Jihad over Centuries

Kubo¹,

Tsuda²

2022

Preprint

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“…Nunn (2008) find that African countries exposed to higher intensity of slave trades have lower GDP per capita today. 1 Studies have also associated the higher intensity of slave trade with lower levels of trust between and within ethnic groups, decreased democracy and liberalism, political fragmentation, increased contemporary civil conflict and violence, and higher ethnic diversity in countries (Besley & Reynal-Querol, 2014;Boxell et al, 2019;Fenske & Zurimendi, 2017;Green, 2013;Nunn & Wantchekon, 2011;Obikili, 2016b;Whatley, 2014;Whatley & Gillezeau, 2011). 2 An important channel through which the slave trades affect contemporary development outcomes is the temporary change in the male-to-female gender ratio in regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Slave trades, kinship structures and women's political participation in Africa

Walters,

Chisadza,

Clance

2024

Kyklos

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We study whether present‐day women's political participation in sub‐Saharan Africa is associated to the temporary gender ratio imbalances caused by the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, taking into account pre‐existing gender norms influenced by kinship structures. To study the interrelatedness between historical exposure to the slave trades, patrilineality and their association to contemporary women's political participation, we use individual‐level data for 35,595 women from 28 sub‐Saharan African countries from three rounds of Afrobarometer surveys, georeferenced to historical ethnic region kinship and slave trade data. Our findings suggest that a woman's ethnic region historical exposure to the transatlantic slave trade is associated with an increase in her likelihood to vote today, however, only in non‐patrilineal ethnic regions. This effect is mitigated in patrilineal ethnic regions, where women have less decision‐making power. This paper contributes to the literature on the contemporary sub‐national effects of the slave trades and the historical causes of gender gaps in political participation.

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“…Inikori (2002) argues that the specialization in human slaves, indeed, had a negative impact on African domestic institutions as it required insecurity of property rights and disrespect of human rights. Boxell et al (2019) argue that the slave trade increased conflict propensities in pre-colonial Africa and that this effect has persisted to the present. As a resource-rich continent, Africa serves today as a key supplier to the global economy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does trade openness improve the quality of domestic institutions? Evidence from Africa

Němečková

Hayat

2022

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Research background: The research article deals with impacts of international trade openness on institutions in less developed economies, namely in Africa. Purpose of the article: It investigates the impacts of international trade openness on institutional quality in Africa measured by twelve various variables. Methods: It applies generalized methods of moments to a dynamic panel data of 34 African countries in the period of 1988?2012. Institutional quality data come from International Country Risk Guide, the rest from World Development Indicators and UNESCO databases. Findings & value added: Our results indicate that in the case of Africa, trade openness seems to be a positive and significant determinant of institutional quality, however, it differs across various institutional variables. Trade openness brings a positive impact on government stability, bureaucracy and law and order, we also identify its conflict-mitigating effects. This happens, unfortunately, with an exemption for natural resources exports. Trade openness also positively influences security and socioeconomic conditions, although we find the link much weaker. Regarding our control variables, we find two interesting results. First, GDP per capita has a strong and positive association with institutional quality when measured by one bundled indicator, however, individual variables show different intensities. Second, we find a strong and positive association of net foreign direct investment inflows and government stability. The added value of this research lies not only in focus on the less researched relationship, i.e., how trade impacts the institutional quality, but dominantly in focus on many institutional variables at once and comparison of their effects. Other empirical studies usually focus on selected variables only, or on selected trade items (natural resources).

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The Slave Trade and Conflict in Africa, 1400-2000

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

The Golden City on the Edge: Economic Geography and Jihad over Centuries

The Golden City on the Edge: Economic Geography and Jihad over Centuries

Slave trades, kinship structures and women's political participation in Africa

Does trade openness improve the quality of domestic institutions? Evidence from Africa

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