DECOLONIZATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CASE OF AFRICA

This paper examines growth rates of real GDP per capita during decolonization in sub-Saharan Africa. For each period considered, I divide the sample between those countries that gained independence during the period and those that either remained colonies or were already independent. These newly independent countries grew slower than the control group. However, a more refined categorization shows that decolonizers grew slower than those that received their independence previously but did not grow slower than those that remained colonies. Thus, whether or not one perceives a cost of decolonization depends on what one uses as the control group.