We investigate the well-being of urban workers in Angola under colonialism. Using a newly compiled dataset derived from archival and secondary sources, we construct welfare ratios for both skilled and unskilled workers in the cities of Luanda and Benguela spanning the years 1760 to 1975. Angolan...

This paper is concerned with the accommodation to the market economy of Tolai people, indigenous to the Gazelle Peninsula in Papua New Guinea and regarded as one of the most prosperous and enterprising groups in the country. 'The market' was introduced to Tolai by German (and later, Australian)...

Ghana became the first state below the Sahara to attain political independence from the Imperialist British after close to a century of colonialism. The period of colonialism saw significant social changes brought about by colonial ordinances and policies. The paper assesses the social dynamics...

Pour connaître la pauvreté, il faut connaitre l'histoire de la pauvreté. Le cas de l'île de Mayotte, désarticulée de l'archipel des Comores, en 1975, est, à ce titre exemplaire. Ses populations, éternellement soumises à des envahisseurs, puis issues des pratiques esclavagistes, n'ont...

Botswana has achieved astonishing economic success and an impressive record of institutions that distinguishes it from many other African countries. This article examines the reasons for Botswana's strong institutional setup, which is considered fundamental to the country's economic success...

This paper is concerned with the economic history of immigrant Chinese in colonial Rabaul and its hinterland (in German, later Australian, New Guinea) over almost a century to the Independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975. It is a companion piece to another study concerned with how Tolai people...

The study attempts to highlight the interrelation between three central points in the ongoing debate on the political economy of development: viability, surplus, and class-formation. A case study of the development of rural labour systems in Northern Nigeria is meant to provide both a better...

The arrival of European settlers at the Cape in 1652 marked the beginning of what would become an extremely unequal society. Comparative analysis reveals that certain endowments exist in societies that experience a 'persistence of inequality'. This paper shows that the emphasis on endowments may...

This paper examines the distribution of top incomes in 15 former British colonies in Africa, drawing on evidence available from income tax records. It seeks to throw light on the position of colonial elites during the period of British rule. Just how unequal were incomes? How did the position of...

Political elites tend to favor their home region when distributing resources. But what explains how political power is distributed across a country's regions to begin with? Explanations of cabinet formation focus on short-term strategic bargaining and some emphasize that ministries are allocated...