The Historical Trauma of Slave Export and Its Long Term Influence on Firm Corruption in Africa

We examine the long-term impact of the slave export, one of the most traumatic events in African history, on firm corruption and corruption-related outcomes using data from over 30,000 firms across 41 African countries from 2006 to 2021. Our results show that the slave export is positively associated with reported corruption obstacles, bribes requested, and bribes paid by African firms. These findings are both statistically and economically significant and robust under various identification and robustness tests. We also demonstrate a positive relationship between the slave export and corruption perception at the country and individual levels. Our results reveal that corruption activities reported by firms are primarily a demand-side phenomenon. Additionally, our findings indicate that in high slave export countries, firms are more likely to engage in various activities to avoid taxes, evade interactions with government officials, and remain unregistered due to rampant corruption. Overall, this study contributes to our understanding of firm corruption and corruption-related outcomes from a historical perspective