Fiscal Capacity and Dualism in Colonial States: The French Empire 1830-1962

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Denis Cogneau, Paris School of Economics, IRD, EHESS; Yannick Dupraz, University College Dublin; Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL Research University, UMR LEDa, DIAL

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  dta_files 02/26/2021 12:00:PM
  excel_files 02/26/2021 12:01:PM
  output 02/26/2021 12:02:PM
Appendix_1_Data.pdf application/pdf 2 MB 02/26/2021 06:58:AM
README.txt text/plain 1.4 KB 02/26/2021 06:50:AM
Replication_tables&graphs_CDM2021.do text/x-stata-syntax 20.1 KB 02/26/2021 06:55:AM

Project Citation: 

Cogneau, Denis, Dupraz, Yannick, and Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine. Fiscal Capacity and Dualism in Colonial States: The French Empire 1830-1962. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2021-02-26. https://doi.org/10.3886/E133361V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary What was the capacity of European colonial states? How fiscally extractive were they? What was their capacity to provide public goods and services? And did this change in the “developmentalist” era of colonialism? To answer these questions, we use archival sources to build a new dataset on colonial states of the second French colonial empire (1830- 1962). French colonial states extracted a substantial amount of revenue, but they were underadministered because public expenditure entailed high wage costs. These costs remained a strong constraint in the “developmentalist” era of colonialism, despite a dramatic increase in fiscal capacity and large overseas subsidies.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-11-BSHS1-006)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms State capacity; Fiscal capacity; Public finances; colonialism
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Benin, Cameroon, Cambodia, Togo, Niger, Guinea, Chad, Madagascar, French Equatorial Africa (Afrique Equatoriale Française), Gabon, French Indochina, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Morocco, Senegal, Mali, French West Africa (Afrique Occidentale Française), Côte d'ivoire, Mauritanie, Algeria, Central African Republic, Laos, Tunisia, Republic of the Congo
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1833 – 1969


Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2021-02-26]

Export Metadata

Dublin Core

DDI 2.5

Report a Problem

Found a serious problem with the data, such as disclosure risk or copyrighted content? Let us know.

This material is distributed exactly as received from the data depositor. As of April 2026, depositors are required to submit study materials in accessible formats. ICPSR has not reviewed, checked, or processed this material. For additional information about the study, please contact the investigator(s) directly. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR's Accessibility Center.