Publication

The paper tests the hypothesis that pre-colonial political centralization has had a positive impact on contemporary levels of development within Africa at the sub-national level for Uganda. It argues that pre-colonial centralization is highly correlated with modern-day development outcomes such as GDP, asset ownership and poverty levels. These correlations hold at the district, sub-county and individual levels. Secondly, it finds that public goods like immunization coverage and primary school enrollment are not correlated with pre-colonial centralization. It concludes that the persistence of poverty and wealth from the pre-colonial period to the present.