Development at the border : a study of national integration in post-colonial West Africa

Pre-print, Working paper: In Africa, boundaries delineated during the colonial era now divide young in-dependent states. By applying regression discontinuity designs to a large set of surveys covering the 1986-2001 period, this paper identities many large and significant jumps in welfare at the borders between five West-African countries around Cote d'Ivoire. Border discontinuities mirror the differences between country averages with respect to household income, connection to utilities and education. Country of residence often makes a difference, even if distance to capital city has some attenuating power. The results are consistent with a national integration process that is underway but not yet achieved.

Author(s)

Denis Cogneau, Sandrine Mesplé-Somps, Gilles Spielvogel

Date of publication
  • 2010
Keywords JEL
O12 P52 R12
Keywords
  • Institutions
  • Africa
  • Geography
Internal reference
  • G-MonD Working Paper n°15
Version
  • 1