The Origins and Consequences of Spatial Inequality.

College Of William And Mary, Williamsburg VA

Investigators

Abstract

General Summary Spatial inequality is the heart of the development crises in many low income countries. The lack of spatial inclusion represents not only a significant barrier to economic growth and integration but is increasingly linked to civil war and state failure. The PI analyzes the historical origins of within-country inequality, focusing on the rise of global demand for cash crops and minerals in the 19th century, European colonization and the spatial consequences of economic specialization in primary commodity production (e.g., cocoa, copper, coffee, diamonds, etc.). The highly localized nature of colonial investments in primary commodity production sowed the seeds of regional inequality and societal divisions that are still felt today. This analysis not only enables us to better understand the underlying causes of spatial inequality and its effects on political instability and civil war, but to determine the degree to which policy interventions, such as democratization, economic liberalization, and foreign aid, are reversing this historical legacy and building more inclusive and integrated economies and states. Technical Summary This project will produce a comprehensive geospatial dataset of primary commodity production at the end of colonialism across 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the project is to better understand (1) the origins and consequences of spatial inequality in Africa; (2) the effect of primary commodity production on ethno-political bargaining and conflict; and (3) the impact policy interventions on reducing the colonial legacy of uneven development. The PIs systematically geo-reference and digitize maps, atlases, census records and economic reports produced by the colonial governments in the late colonial period as well as contemporaneous academic sources. This highly granular data on areas of cash crop production, mining, and other primary economic production will be generated at a spatial resolution of 5x5 km as well as aggregated up to 25x25 km and current second-level administrative units. The PIs will combine this data on primary commodity production with contemporary geospatial data on electrification, access to public services, conflict events and violence, ethnic inclusion, survey data on perceptions of state capacity and legitimacy, and agricultural production to unravel the path dependent effects of colonial economic extraction and change over time. They anticipate that the data and visualization of the data will serve as valuable resource for students, scholars and policy-makers alike, who are interested in better understanding the link between economic geography, state-building and long-run development.