IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ucp/jpolec/doi10.1086-674988.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Chiefs: Economic Development and Elite Control of Civil Society in Sierra Leone

Author

Listed:
  • Daron Acemoglu
  • Tristan Reed
  • James A. Robinson

Abstract

We study the effect of constraints on chiefs' power on economic outcomes, citizens' attitudes, and social capital. A paramount chief in Sierra Leone must come from a ruling family originally recognized by British colonial authorities. In chiefdoms with fewer ruling families, chiefs face less political competition, and development outcomes are significantly worse today. Variation in the security of property rights over land is a potential mechanism. Paradoxically, with fewer ruling families, the institutions of chiefs' authority are more highly respected, and measured social capital is higher. We argue that these results reflect the capture of civil society organizations by chiefs.

Suggested Citation

  • Daron Acemoglu & Tristan Reed & James A. Robinson, 2014. "Chiefs: Economic Development and Elite Control of Civil Society in Sierra Leone," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(2), pages 319-368.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/674988
    DOI: 10.1086/674988
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/674988
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/674988
    Download Restriction: Access to the online full text or PDF requires a subscription.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/674988?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Timothy Besley & Anne Case, 2003. "Political Institutions and Policy Choices: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 41(1), pages 7-73, March.
    2. Shanker Satyanath & Nico Voigtländer & Joachim Voth, 2013. "Bowling for fascism: Social capital and the rise of the Nazi Party in Weimar Germany, 1919-33," Economics Working Papers 1375, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. George Stigler, 1972. "Economic competition and political competition," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 91-106, September.
    4. Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), 2005. "Handbook of Economic Growth," Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    5. Alessandro Lizzeri & Nicola Persico, 2004. "Why did the Elites Extend the Suffrage? Democracy and the Scope of Government, with an Application to Britain's "Age of Reform"," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(2), pages 707-765.
    6. Lakshmi Iyer, 2010. "Direct versus Indirect Colonial Rule in India: Long-Term Consequences," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(4), pages 693-713, November.
    7. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2008. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 981-1022, December.
    8. Lange, Matthew, 2009. "Lineages of Despotism and Development," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226470702, October.
    9. Lange, Matthew, 2009. "Lineages of Despotism and Development," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226470689, December.
    10. Shanker Satyanath & Nico Voigtländer & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2017. "Bowling for Fascism: Social Capital and the Rise of the Nazi Party," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 125(2), pages 478-526.
    11. Jerven, Morten, 2006. "Social Capital as a Determinant of Economic Growth in Africa," Ratio Working Papers 108, The Ratio Institute.
    12. James D. Fearon & Macartan Humphreys & Jeremy M. Weinstein, 2009. "Can Development Aid Contribute to Social Cohesion after Civil War? Evidence from a Field Experiment in Post-conflict Liberia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 287-291, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daron Acemoglu & Tristan Reed & James A. Robinson, 2013. "Chiefs: Elite Control of Civil Society and Economic Development in Sierra Leone," NBER Working Papers 18691, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Stelios Michalopoulos & Elias Papaioannou, 2020. "Historical Legacies and African Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(1), pages 53-128, March.
    3. Mizuno, Nobuhiro, 2016. "Political structure as a legacy of indirect colonial rule: Bargaining between national governments and rural elites in Africa," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1023-1039.
    4. Whatley, Warren, 2012. "The transatlantic slave trade and the evolution of political authority in West Africa," MPRA Paper 44932, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Claudio Ferraz & Frederico Finan & Monica Martinez-Bravo, 2024. "Political Power, Elite Control, and Long-Run Development: Evidence from Brazil," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(6), pages 2870-2908.
    6. Daron Acemoglu & Isaías N. Chaves & Philip Osafo-Kwaako & James A. Robinson, 2014. "Indirect Rule and State Weakness in Africa: Sierra Leone in Comparative Perspective," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 343-370, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Shivaji Mukherjee, 2018. "Colonial Origins of Maoist Insurgency in India," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 62(10), pages 2232-2274, November.
    8. Lee, Alexander & Paine, Jack, 2019. "British colonialism and democracy: Divergent inheritances and diminishing legacies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 487-503.
    9. Leander Heldring & James A. Robinson, 2012. "Colonialism and Economic Development in Africa," NBER Working Papers 18566, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Daichi Shimamoto & Yasuyuki Todo, 2015. "Economic and Political Networks and Firm Openness: Evidence from Indonesia," Working Papers 1512, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    11. Spenkuch, Jörg & Tillmann, Philipp, 2014. "Elite Influence? Religion, Economics, and the Rise of the Nazis," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100491, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    12. McNamee, Lachlan, 2019. "Indirect colonial rule and the salience of ethnicity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 142-156.
    13. Mukherjee, Shivaji, 2018. "Historical legacies of colonial indirect rule: Princely states and Maoist insurgency in central India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 113-129.
    14. Lechler, Marie & McNamee, Lachlan, 2018. "Indirect Colonial Rule Undermines Support for Democracy: Evidence From a Natural Experiment in Namibia," Munich Reprints in Economics 62825, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
    15. Oto-Peralías, Daniel, 2019. "Delegation of Governmental Authority in Historical Perspective: Lordships, State Capacity and Development," SocArXiv k8mzr, Center for Open Science.
    16. Jeffrey Frankel, 2014. "Mauritius: African Success Story," NBER Chapters, in: African Successes, Volume IV: Sustainable Growth, pages 295-342, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Sascha O. Becker, Sascha O & Voth, Hans-Joachim, 2023. "From the Death of God to the Rise of Hitler," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1478, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    18. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson & Daniel Sturm, 2005. "Political Competition and Economic Performance: Theory and Evidence from the United States," NBER Working Papers 11484, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Maja Adena & Ruben Enikolopov & Maria Petrova & Veronica Santarosa & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2015. "Radio and the Rise of The Nazis in Prewar Germany," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(4), pages 1885-1939.
    20. Qian, Nancy & Padró i Miquel, Gerard & Yao, Yang & Xu, Yiqing, 2015. "Making Democracy Work: Culture, Social Capital and Elections in China," CEPR Discussion Papers 10515, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

    More about this item

    Lists

    This item is featured on the following reading lists, Wikipedia, or ReplicationWiki pages:
    1. Chiefs: Economic Development and Elite Control of Civil Society in Sierra Leone (JPE 2014) in ReplicationWiki

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:doi:10.1086/674988. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Journals Division (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JPE .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.