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Introduction to the Special Issue on colonial institutions and African development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2017

ANTOINE PARENT
ANTOINE PARENT*
Affiliation:
Sciences Po Lyon, LAET UMR CNRS 5593. CAC - IXXI, Institut Rhône-Alpin des Systèmes Complexes, 14 Avenue Berthelot, 69007 Lyon, France
*
*Email: antoine.parent@sciencespo-lyon.fr
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Abstract

This special issue, devoted to the analysis of colonial institutions in the economic performance of countries both pre- and post-colonialism Africa, aims to be a contribution, in the vein of North (2005), to the field of colonial studies in comparative institutional perspective. The papers in this issue combine the history of economic thought, econometrics, economic history, cliometrics and the analysis of colonial institutions. These approaches shed a new light on the question of path-dependence and historical dynamics. They suggest that as former African colonial countries move away from the colonial period, the shadow of colonial institutions is less marked and is now rivalled in importance by the extent of democracy, which now plays a crucial role in their economic development.

Type
Introduction
Information
Journal of Institutional Economics , Volume 14 , Special Issue 2: Special Issue on Colonial Institutions and African Development , April 2018 , pp. 197 - 205
Copyright
Copyright © Millennium Economics Ltd 2017 

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