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Fiscal Capacity and Dualism in Colonial States: The French Empire 1830–1962

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  • Cogneau, Denis
  • Dupraz, Yannick
  • Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine

Abstract

What was the capacity of European colonial states? How fiscally extractive were they? What was their capacity to provide public goods and services? And did this change in the “developmentalist” era of colonialism? To answer these questions, we use archival sources to build a new dataset on colonial states of the second French colonial empire (1830–1962). French colonial states extracted a substantial amount of revenue, but they were under-administered because public expenditure entailed high wage costs. These costs remained a strong constraint in the “developmentalist” era of colonialism, despite a dramatic increase in fiscal capacity and large overseas subsidies.

Suggested Citation

  • Cogneau, Denis & Dupraz, Yannick & Mesplé-Somps, Sandrine, 2021. "Fiscal Capacity and Dualism in Colonial States: The French Empire 1830–1962," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 81(2), pages 441-480, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:81:y:2021:i:2:p:441-480_4
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    Cited by:

    1. Lucas Chancel & Denis Cogneau & Amory Gethin & Alix Myczkowski, 2019. "How large are African inequalities? Towards Distributional National Accounts in Africa, 1990 - 2017," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876986, HAL.
    2. Hup, Mark, 2024. "Labor coercion, fiscal modernization, and state capacity: Evidence from colonial Indonesia," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    3. Marazyan, Karine, 2025. "The effects of rainfall shocks on divorce requests: Evidence from Colonial Senegal," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 317-344.
    4. Lucas Chancel & Denis Cogneau & Amory Gethin & Alix Myczkowski, 2019. "How large are African inequalities? Towards Distributional National Accounts in Africa, 1990 - 2017," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876986, HAL.
    5. Denis Cogneau & Yannick Dupraz & Justine Knebelmann & Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, 2021. "Taxation in Africa from Colonial Times to Present Evidence from former French colonies 1900-2018," Working Papers halshs-03420664, HAL.
    6. Alvaredo, Facundo & Cogneau, Denis & Piketty, Thomas, 2021. "Income inequality under colonial rule. Evidence from French Algeria, Cameroon, Tunisia, and Vietnam and comparisons with British colonies 1920–1960," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    7. Govind, Yajna, 2025. "Post-colonial trends of income inequality: Evidence from the overseas departments of France," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    8. Dhammika Dharmapala & Marvin Suesse, 2025. "Decolonization, Legitimacy and Fiscal Capacity: Event Study Evidence from Africa," CESifo Working Paper Series 12059, CESifo.
    9. Scott Viallet-Thévenin & Cédric Chambru, 2020. "Attaining autonomy in the empire: French governors between 1860 and 1960," ECON - Working Papers 366, Department of Economics - University of Zurich.
    10. Cogneau, Denis & Mo, Zhexun, 2024. "Enforcing Colonial Rule: Blood Tax and Head Tax in French West Africa," SocArXiv 7wnsz, Center for Open Science.
    11. Ewout Frankema & Marlous van Waijenburg, 2023. "What about the race between education and technology in the Global South? Comparing skill premiums in colonial Africa and Asia," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(3), pages 941-978, August.
    12. Fenske, James & Wang, Shizhuo, 2023. "Tradition and mortality: Evidence from twin infanticide in Africa," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    13. Michiel de Haas, 2022. "Reconstructing income inequality in a colonial cash crop economy: five social tables for Uganda, 1925–1965 [Long-term trends in income inequality: winners and losers of economic change in Ghana, 18," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(2), pages 255-283.
    14. Denis Cogneau & Zhexun Mo, 2025. "Enforcing Colonial Rule: Blood Tax and Head Tax in French West Africa," PSE Working Papers halshs-04823289, HAL.
    15. Chancel, Lucas & Cogneau, Denis & Gethin, Amory & Myczkowski, Alix & Robilliard, Anne-Sophie, 2023. "Income inequality in Africa, 1990–2019: Measurement, patterns, determinants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).

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