The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades *

Nunn, Nathan

doi:10.1162/qjec.2008.123.1.139

Cited by 1,159Culture, Economy, and Development StudiesHistorical Economic and Social StudiesColonialism, slavery, and trade

The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades *

Nunn, Nathan·2008·Quarterly Journal of Economics

DOI 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.1.139

Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

Can part of Africa's current underdevelopment be explained by its slave trades? To explore this question, I use data from shipping records and historical documents reporting slave ethnicities to construct estimates of the number of slaves exported from each country during Africa's slave trades. I find a robust negative relationship between the number of slaves exported from a country and current economic performance. To better understand if the relationship is causal, I examine the historical evidence on selection into the slave trades and use instrumental variables. Together the evidence suggests that the slave trades had an adverse effect on economic development.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.1.139

Cites

79 of 79 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

The colonial origins of comparative development: An empirical investigation
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2001) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.91.5.1369 · Cited by 8,517 · see citing works
Regression Diagnostics -- Identifying Influential Data and Sources of Collinearity
Beaumont, C. D., Belsley, D. A., Kuh, E., & Welsch, R. E. (1981) · Journal of the Operational Research Society · doi:10.2307/2581267 · Cited by 6,362 · see citing works
The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation: Reply
Acemoğlu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2012) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.102.6.3077 · Cited by 6,050 · see citing works
The quality of government
La Porta, R. (1999) · Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization · doi:10.1093/jleo/15.1.222 · Cited by 5,699 · see citing works
Africa's Growth Tragedy: Policies and Ethnic Divisions
Easterly, W., & Levine, R. (1997) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355300555466 · Cited by 5,649 · see citing works
Fractionalization
Alesina, A., Devleeschauwer, A., Easterly, W., Kurlat, S., & Wacziarg, R. (2003) · Journal of Economic Growth · doi:10.1023/a:1024471506938 · Cited by 3,432 · see citing works
Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the Modern World Income Distribution
Acemoğlu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2002) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355302320935025 · Cited by 3,324 · see citing works
Public Goods and Ethnic Divisions
Alesina, A., Baqir, R., & Easterly, W. R. (1999) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/003355399556269 · Cited by 2,517 · see citing works
Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country*
Fearon, J. D. (2003) · Journal of Economic Growth · doi:10.1023/a:1024419522867 · Cited by 1,829 · see citing works
Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators for 1996–2002
Kaufmann, D., Kraay, A., & Mastruzzi, M. (2003) · World Bank, Washington, DC eBooks · doi:10.1596/1813-9450-3106 · Cited by 1,685 · see citing works
The World Economy
Maddison, A. (2003) · Development Centre studies · doi:10.1787/9789264104143-en · Cited by 1,194 · see citing works
Ethnic diversity, social sanctions, and public goods in Kenya
Miguel, E. A., & Gugerty, M. K. (2004) · Journal of Public Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2004.09.004 · Cited by 1,178 · see citing works
Factor Endowments, Inequality, and Paths of Development Among New World Economics
Engerman, S. L., & Sokoloff, K. L. (2002) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w9259 · Cited by 838 · see citing works
States and Power in Africa
Herbst, J., & Herbst, J. (2017) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.23943/princeton/9780691164137.001.0001 · Cited by 835 · see citing works
A Conditional Likelihood Ratio Test for Structural Models
Moreira, M. J. (2003) · Econometrica · doi:10.1111/1468-0262.00438 · Cited by 796 · see citing works
The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census.
Duignan, P. J., & Curtin, P. D. (1970) · The Journal of Southern History · doi:10.2307/2206310 · Cited by 792 · see citing works
States and Markets: The Advantage of an Early Start
Bockstette, V., Chanda, A., & Putterman, L. G. (2002) · Journal of Economic Growth · doi:10.1023/a:1020827801137 · Cited by 546 · see citing works
Tribe or Nation? Nation Building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania
Miguel, E. A. (2004) · World Politics · doi:10.1017/s0043887100004330 · Cited by 533 · see citing works
The political economy of public goods: Some evidence from India
Banerjee, A., & Somanathan, R. (2007) · Journal of Development Economics · doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2006.04.005 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Endogenous Political Institutions
Aghion, P., Alesina, A., & Trebbi, F. (2004) · The Quarterly Journal of Economics · doi:10.1162/0033553041382148 · Cited by 503 · see citing works
Factor Endowments: Institutions, and Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Economies: A View from Economic Historians of the United States
Engerman, S. L., & Sokoloff, K. L. (1994) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/h0066 · Cited by 484 · see citing works
The United States as a Coastal Nation
Rappaport, J. M., & Sachs, J. D. (2003) · Journal of Economic Growth · doi:10.1023/a:1022870216673 · Cited by 460 · see citing works
Economics and World History: Myths and Paradoxes
Cate, T., & Bairoch, P. (1994) · Southern Economic Journal · doi:10.2307/1060151 · Cited by 444 · see citing works
British Colonial Legacies and Political Development
Lange, M. (2004) · World Development · doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2003.12.001 · Cited by 430 · see citing works
The Geography of Poverty and Wealth
Sachs, J. D., Mellinger, A. D., & Gallup, J. L. (2001) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0301-70 · Cited by 373 · see citing works
Can Institutions Resolve Ethnic Conflict?
Easterly, W. R. (2001) · Economic Development and Cultural Change · doi:10.1086/452521 · Cited by 365 · see citing works
The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades
Nunn, N. (2007) · National Bureau of Economic Research · doi:10.3386/w13367 · Cited by 352 · see citing works
Self-citation
The ‘reversal of fortune’ thesis and the compression of history: Perspectives from African and comparative economic history
Austin, G. (2008) · Journal of International Development · doi:10.1002/jid.1510 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
Pre-Colonial Institutions, Post-Colonial States, and Economic Development in Tropical Africa
Englebert, P. (2000) · Political Research Quarterly · doi:10.1177/106591290005300101 · Cited by 333 · see citing works
Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-Conflict Liberia
Fearon, J. D., Humphreys, M., & Weinstein, J. M. (2009) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.99.2.287 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade
Barry, B. (1997) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511584084 · Cited by 283 · see citing works
Quantifying the Sources of Slaves in the Early Roman Empire
Scheidel, W. (1997) · The Journal of Roman Studies · doi:10.2307/301373 · Cited by 277 · see citing works
Did colonization matter for growth?
Bertocchi, G., & Canova, F. (2002) · European Economic Review · doi:10.1016/s0014-2921(01)00195-7 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Colonial legacies and economic growth
Grier, R. M. (1999) · Public Choice · doi:10.1023/a:1018322908007 · Cited by 262 · see citing works
Can the West Save Africa?
Easterly, W. R. (2009) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/jel.47.2.373 · Cited by 238 · see citing works
River of Wealth, River of Sorrow. The Central Zaire Basin in the Era of the Slave and Ivory Trade, 1500-1891
Harms, R. (1982) · African Economic History · doi:10.2307/3601230 · Cited by 230 · see citing works
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: A Database on CD-ROM
Searing, J. F., & Eltis, D. (2001) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/2692332 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Responding to State Failure in Africa
Herbst, J. (1997) · International Security · doi:10.1162/isec.21.3.120 · Cited by 187 · see citing works
Kingdoms of the savanna
Vansina, J. (1966) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 174 · see citing works
"Polyglotta africana", or a Comparative vocabulary of nearly three hundred words and phrases, in more than one hundred distinct African languages
Koelle, S. W. (1854) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 166 · see citing works
Social Cohesion, Institutions, and GrowthPreprint
Easterly, W., Ritzen, J. M. M., & Woolcock, M. J. V. (2007) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.983117 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas
Hall, G. M. (2005) · University of North Carolina Press eBooks · doi:10.5149/9780807876862_hall · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Responding to State Failure in Africa
Herbst, J. (1996) · International Security · doi:10.2307/2539275 · Cited by 140 · see citing works
Solving the Mystery of the AFRICA Dummy
Englebert, P. (2000) · World Development · doi:10.1016/s0305-750x(00)00052-8 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Background to rebellion: The origins of Muslim slaves in Bahia
Lovejoy, P. E. (1994) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440399408575130 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Trade Without Rulers: Pre-Colonial Economic Development in South-Eastern Nigeria
Reynolds, E., & Northrup, D. (1979) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1861630 · Cited by 134 · see citing works
The Productivity of U.S. States Since 1880
Mitchener, K. J., & McLean, I. W. (2003) · Journal of Economic Growth · doi:10.1023/a:1022812917582 · Cited by 133 · see citing works
National cultures of the world: a statistical reference
(1997) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.35-0679c · Cited by 108 · see citing works
THE SLAVE TRADE AND DECENTRALIZED SOCIETIES
Klein, M. A. (2001) · The Journal of African History · doi:10.1017/s0021853700007854 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
The Modern Impact of Precolonial Centralization in AfricaPreprint
Gennaioli, N., & Rainer, I. (2005) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.848164 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
INFLUENCE FUNCTIONS AND REGRESSION DIAGNOSTICS
Welsch, R. E. (1982) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-438180-3.50014-1 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Slavery and African Ethnicities in the Americas: Restoring the Links
Hall, G. M. (2006) · The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology · doi:10.1525/jlat.2006.11.2.436 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Root Causes of African Underdevelopment
Bhattacharyya, S. (2009) · Journal of African Economies · doi:10.1093/jae/ejp009 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Warp Drive Underwater
Ashley, S. (2001) · Scientific American · doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0501-70 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Archaeology of Slavery in East Africa
Kusimba, C. M. (2004) · African Archaeological Review · doi:10.1023/b:aarr.0000030785.72144.4a · Cited by 89 · see citing works
The Kingdom of Kongo
Hilton, A. (1985) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 80 · see citing works
The 19th Century Islamic Slave Trade from East Africa (Swahili and Red Sea Coasts): A Tentative Census
Austen, R. A. (1988) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440398808574960 · Cited by 73 · see citing works
National Cultures of the World
Parker, P. M. (1997) · Greenwood eBooks · doi:10.5040/9798216979074 · Cited by 70 · see citing works
Trade, State, and Society Among the Yao in the Nineteenth Century
Alpers, E. A. (1969) · The Journal of African History · doi:10.1017/s0021853700036355 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
THE VOLUME OF THE EARLY ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE, 1450–1521
Elbl, I. (1997) · The Journal of African History · doi:10.1017/s0021853796006810 · Cited by 69 · see citing works
A VIEW OF THE SLAVE TRADE FROM THE MARGIN: SOUROUDOUGOU IN THE LATE NINETEENTH-CENTURY SLAVE TRADE OF THE NIGER BEND
Hubbell, J. A. (2001) · The Journal of African History · doi:10.1017/s0021853700007805 · Cited by 66 · see citing works
An Introduction to the History of West Africa
Fage, J. D. (1955) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 61 · see citing works
War, Piracy and Slavery in the Greek world
Garlan, Y. (1987) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440398708574924 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Metals or Management? Explaining Africa's Recent Economic Growth Performance
Beny, L. N., & Cook, L. (2009) · American Economic Review · doi:10.1257/aer.99.2.268 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Of Slaves and the Gift: Kabre Sale of Kin During the Era of the Slave Trade
Piot, C. (1996) · The Journal of African History · doi:10.1017/s0021853700034782 · Cited by 58 · see citing works
Preferences for Slaves in Colonial America
Wax, D. D. (1973) · The Journal of Negro History · doi:10.2307/2716746 · Cited by 53 · see citing works
The Mediterranean Islamic slave trade out of Africa: A tentative census
Austen, R. A. (1992) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440399208575059 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
River of Wealth, River of Sorrow: The Central Zaire Basin in the Era of the Slave and Ivory Trade, 1500-1891
Reefe, T. Q., & Harms, R. (1983) · The International Journal of African Historical Studies · doi:10.2307/218275 · Cited by 49 · see citing works
Contours of Slavery and Social Change in Africa
Manning, P. M. (1983) · The American Historical Review · doi:10.2307/1874022 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
State Effectiveness, Economic Growth, and the Age of States
Chanda, A., & Putterman, L. G. (2005) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781403982681_4 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
AFRICA IN CUBA: A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE AFRICAN POPULATION IN THE ISLAND OF CUBA*
Fraginals, M. M. (1977) · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb47743.x · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Deep-Down Time: Political Tradition in Central Africa
Vansina, J. (1989) · History in Africa · doi:10.2307/3171791 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
States and Power in Africa by Jeffrey I. Herbst: A Review Essay
Robinson, J. A. (2002) · Journal of Economic Literature · doi:10.1257/002205102320161357 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
The Middle Passage: Comparative Studies in the Atlantic Slave Trade
Kulikoff, A., Klein, H. S., Germery, H. A., et al. (1981) · Journal of American History · doi:10.2307/1888065 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
The production of slaves where there was no state: The Guinea‐Bissau region, 1450–1815
Hawthorne, W. (1999) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440399908575279 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Power and Slavery in Central Africa: Chad (1890-1925)
Azevedo, M. (1982) · The Journal of Negro History · doi:10.2307/2717386 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
The aftermath of thejihādin the central sudan∗ as a major factor in the volume of the Trans‐Saharan slave trade in the nineteenth century
Mahadi, A. (1992) · Slavery and Abolition · doi:10.1080/01440399208575053 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Political Regimes and Regime Transitions in Africa, 1910-1994
Bratton, M., & van de Walle, N. (1997) · ICPSR Data Holdings · doi:10.3886/icpsr06996.v1 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Political Regimes and Regime Transitions in Africa, 1910-1994
Bratton, M., & van de Walle, N. (1997) · ICPSR Data Holdings · doi:10.3886/icpsr06996 · Cited by 4 · see citing works

Flagged first, then by citations

Sorted by citations

Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence
Oster, E. (2019) · Journal of Business & Economic Statistics · doi:10.1080/07350015.2016.1227711 · Cited by 5,367 · see citing works
The Credibility Revolution in Empirical Economics: How Better Research Design is Taking the Con out of Econometrics
Angrist, J. D., & Pischke, J.-S. (2010) · Journal of Economic Perspectives · doi:10.1257/jep.24.2.3 · Cited by 1,566 · see citing works
Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-Term Consequences
Iyer, L. (2010) · Review of Economics and Statistics · doi:10.1162/rest_a_00023 · Cited by 344 · see citing works
The Legacy of Historical Conflict: Evidence from Africa
BESLEY, T., & REYNAL-QUEROL, M. (2014) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055414000161 · Cited by 322 · see citing works
The rise and fall of African rice cultivation revealed by analysis of 246 new genomes
Cubry, P., Tranchant-Dubreuil, C., Thuillet, A.-C., Monat, C., Ndjiondjop, M.-N., Labadie, K., Cruaud, C., Engelen, S., Scarcelli, N., Rhoné, B., et al. (2018) · Current Biology · doi:10.1016/j.cub.2018.05.066 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Segmentary Lineage Organization and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa
Moscona, J., Nunn, N., & Robinson, J. A. (2020) · Econometrica · doi:10.3982/ecta16327 · Cited by 108 · see citing works
Self-citation
Growth, history, or institutions
Bertocchi, G., & Guerzoni, A. (2012) · Journal of Peace Research · doi:10.1177/0022343312452420 · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Reconcilability of Socio-Economic Development and Environmental Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa
Rudi, L.-M., Azadi, H., & Witlox, F. (2012) · Global and Planetary Change · doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2011.12.004 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Displacement and development: Long term impacts of population transfer in India
Bharadwaj, P., & Ali Mirza, R. (2019) · Explorations in Economic History · doi:10.1016/j.eeh.2019.05.001 · Cited by 29 · see citing works

Authors: Nunn, N.
Affiliations: National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
Corresponding author: Nunn, Nathan
ORCID: Nunn, Nathan
Venue: Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published: 2008-02
Volume: 123
Issue: 1
Pages: 139-176
ISSN: 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
1531-4650
DOI: 10.1162/qjec.2008.123.1.139
OpenAlex: W3121532354
Cited by: 1,159
References: 79
Citations by year: 2026: 67 · 2025: 77 · 2024: 76 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 67 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 50 · 2019: 109 · 2018: 63 · 2017: 64 · 2016: 68 · 2015: 53 · 2014: 90 · 2013: 48 · 2012: 52
FWCI: 92.02
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Locations: The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
Topics: Social Sciences › Demography › Culture, Economy, and Development Studies
Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Historical Economic and Social Studies
Social Sciences › Anthropology › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
Keywords: transatlantic slave trade, slave exports, long-term economic development, underdevelopment

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review

The Long-Term Effects of Africa's Slave Trades *

Abstract

Integrity signals

Claims the paper makes

Cites

Cited by

Related

Record

About these checks