State Capacity and Development in Francophone West Africa
Author
Summary, in English
understanding of current levels of state capacity and development in francophone West Africa.
Three main conclusions can be drawn from the findings. First, modern African states have dynamic histories that help us understand from where they come and explain their current diversity, strengths and weaknesses. This thesis presents strong evidence of significant long-term growth of state capacity and economic and social development in the four West African countries. This long-term expansion of fiscal capacity in the four countries is not properly recognised in the contemporary development literature, which tends to emphasise the current weaknesses of African governments and fiscal systems within much shorter time perspective.
Second, our understanding of African states cannot be reduced to colonial legacies or explained by institutional persistence. There were indeed clear common temporal patterns among the four countries with significant continuity over independence, but also important differences depending on economic, political and social contexts. In this way, Africa is not different from other parts of the world. Instead, what deserves much more empirical attention is the impact of the continuous external dependency and isomorphism to which African states are subjected.
Third, despite long-term growth, state capacity in the four countries has been constrained by limited social and economic development just as theory would predict. Yet, many African countries tax more than Western countries did at similar stages of development. Such high tax burdens may have negative effects on economic activity. The implication is that any hopes of increasing domestic resource mobilisation to finance e.g. the Sustainable Development Goals may be disappointing unless accompanied with sustained economic and social transformation.
In sum, the evidence presented in this thesis on the fiscal trajectories and economic development of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Senegal is testimony to the great achievements of state development in francophone West Africa over the long 20th century, but also to the historical vulnerability and external dependency of these states.
Department/s
Publishing year
2018-05-04
Language
English
Publication/Series
Lund Studies in Economic History
Issue
86
Full text
Document type
Dissertation
Publisher
Media-Tryck, Lund University, Sweden
Topic
- Economic History
Keywords
- State capacity
- Colonialism
- Africa
- Economic development
- France
Status
Published
Supervisor
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1400-4860
- ISBN: 978-91-87793-45-5
- ISBN: 978-91-87793-44-8
Defence date
25 May 2018
Defence time
10:15
Defence place
Holger Crafoord Centre EC3:211
Opponent
- Denis Cogneau (Professor)