Income inequality and export-oriented commercialisation in colonial Africa: evidence from six countries

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Ellen Hillbom, Lund University; Jutta Bolt, Lund University and University of Groningen; Michiel de Haas, Wageningen University; Federico Tadei, University of Barcelona

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Replication_Commodity exports per capita.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 590.3 KB 10/16/2023 05:46:AM
Replication_Data for figures.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 97.7 KB 10/15/2023 08:30:AM
Replication_Figures.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 147.5 KB 10/16/2023 12:39:AM
Replication_Full social tables.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 139.9 KB 10/16/2023 12:37:AM
Replication_Online supplementary materials.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 34.2 KB 10/15/2023 11:22:PM
Replication_Simplified social tables.xlsx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet 28.1 KB 10/15/2023 11:14:PM
Replication_Stata.do text/plain 2.5 KB 10/15/2023 11:19:PM
Replication_Stata.dta application/x-stata-dta 12 KB 10/12/2023 05:15:AM

Project Citation: 

Hillbom, Ellen, Bolt, Jutta, de Haas, Michiel, and Tadei, Federico. Income inequality and export-oriented commercialisation in colonial Africa: evidence from six countries. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2023-10-16. https://doi.org/10.3886/E194503V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Limited knowledge of African historical inequality trajectories hampers our understanding of inequality outcomes today and leads to a major omission in debates about global inequality. Economies in colonial Africa were characterized by a process of export-oriented commercialization. We hypothesize that this process itself, the capital intensity of the commodities produced, and the relative importance of European and Asian expatriates and settlers in the economy shaped heterogeneous inequality outcomes. We evaluate these hypotheses using 33 social tables from six predominately agricultural countries, between 1914 and 1969. Social tables capture income across the full distribution, aggregated in classes. We assess and improve the commensurability of the different social tables. We use different inequality metrics, and find that Gini and Theil coefficients and Inequality Extraction Ratios rose over time. Gini coefficients moved in conjunction with the real value of commodity exports per capita. Using Theil decompositions, we observe a trade-off between inequality among African classes on the one hand, and among non-Africans and between races, on the other. Whenever present, non-Africans indirectly captured a large share of the export profits. Inequality patterns towards the end of the period suggest that capital-intensive commodities were associated with higher levels of inequality in the agricultural sector.
Funding Sources:  View help for Funding Sources Marcus and Marianne Wallenberg Foundation (MMW 2015.0028); Swedish Research Council (VR 2018-01516); Dutch Research Council (VI.Veni.211F.047)

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms Inequality; colonialism; international trade
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Senegal, Botswana, Africa, Uganda, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1/1/1914 – 12/31/1969


Related Publications

Download this project

Published Versions

V1 [2023-10-16]

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.