How Africans Shaped British Colonial Institutions: Evidence from Local Taxation
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How Africans Shaped British Colonial Institutions : Evidence from Local Taxation. / Bolt, Jutta; Gardner, Leigh.
In: Journal of Economic History, Vol. 80, No. 4, 2020, p. 1189-1223.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
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TY - JOUR
T1 - How Africans Shaped British Colonial Institutions
T2 - Evidence from Local Taxation
AU - Bolt, Jutta
AU - Gardner, Leigh
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The institutions that governed most of the rural population in British colonial Africa have been neglected in the literature on colonialism. We use new data on local governments, or "Native Authorities,"to present the first quantitative comparison of African institutions under indirect rule in four colonies in 1948: Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, and Kenya. Tax data show that Native Authorities' capacity varied within and between colonies, due to both underlying economic inequalities and African elites' relations with the colonial government. Our findings suggest that Africans had a bigger hand in shaping British colonial institutions than often acknowledged.
AB - The institutions that governed most of the rural population in British colonial Africa have been neglected in the literature on colonialism. We use new data on local governments, or "Native Authorities,"to present the first quantitative comparison of African institutions under indirect rule in four colonies in 1948: Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Nyasaland, and Kenya. Tax data show that Native Authorities' capacity varied within and between colonies, due to both underlying economic inequalities and African elites' relations with the colonial government. Our findings suggest that Africans had a bigger hand in shaping British colonial institutions than often acknowledged.
U2 - 10.1017/S0022050720000455
DO - 10.1017/S0022050720000455
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85095990749
VL - 80
SP - 1189
EP - 1223
JO - Journal of Economic History
JF - Journal of Economic History
SN - 0022-0507
IS - 4
ER -