The Precolonial Origins of Ethnic Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa

• In Event: The Dynamics of State-Building Across Time and Space

Abstract

Ethnic inequality comprises both the average difference in income/wealth between groups (between group inequality or BGI) and the difference in income/wealth among members of different groups (within group inequality or WGI). The interactive effect of BGI and WGI is known to affect a range of political outcomes from voting to conflict. BGI and WGI appear to be highly durable over time. Although the origins of BGI have been investigated by other authors, little attention has been paid to the long-run sources of variation in WGI. We theorize that, in sub-Saharan Africa, WGI is primarily determined by the type of political institutions in place prior to colonization. In particular, ethnic groups with highly centralized pre-colonial institutions tend to have lower levels of within-group inequality today. Using a dataset on more than 400 ethnic groups in sub-Saharan Africa, we show that pre-colonial institutions have a significant effect on WGI. We also demonstrate that the effect of pre-colonial institutions is stronger that that of geographic endowments and colonial institutions.

Authors

• Nicolas Bichay, Michigan State University

• Christian Houle, Michigan State University

• Paul D. Kenny, ANU