Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development

Professor Dincecco will present research which shows that the long-run consequences of historical warfare are different for Sub-Saharan Africa than for the rest of the Old World. Identifying the locations of over 1,750 conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Europe from 1400 to 1799, they find that historical warfare predicts greater state capacity today across the Old World, including in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is no significant correlation between historical warfare and current civil conflicts across the rest of the Old World. However, this correlation is strong and positive in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, while a history of conflict predicts higher per capita GDP for the rest of the Old World, this positive consequence is overturned for Sub-Saharan Africa.

This talk is part of the Comparative Politics Workshop in the Department of Political Science and is co-sponsored by The Europe Center.

Mark Dincecco is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and a faculty affiliate of the Program in International and Comparative Studies. His research and teaching interests include political economy, economic and political history, comparative politics, and public finance. His book, Political Transformations and Public Finances: Europe, 1650-1913, was published by Cambridge University Press. His current research tests the long-run relationships between military conflicts, state formation and capacity, and economic and political development.