How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?
) No 176, Working Papers from Economic Research Southern Africa Abstract: This paper investigates the channels through which colonial origin affects economic outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It focuses on four key channels of transmission namely, human capital, trade openness, market distortion and selection bias. In contrast with previous studies where only initial conditions at independence were held to influence the subsequent growth path, the methodology that we apply in this paper combines (1) the pre-colonisation initial conditions, (2) the initial conditions at independence and (3) the subsequent post-colonial changes in explaining income differences amongst former SSA colonies. Our sample comprises of 38 SSA countries studied over the period 1960-2000, and we use pooled OLS and Hausman-Taylor estimation techniques in a panel framework. The results suggest that former British colonies have had marginally higher income levels than former French colonies, and this is attribut
