Energy poverty is now a major concern on the public policy agenda in many countries.
However, evidence on the determinants of energy poverty is relatively scant. Our study …

The Paradox of Traditional Chiefs in Democratic Africa shows that unelected traditional
leaders can facilitate democratic responsiveness. Ironically, chiefs' undemocratic character …

We investigate the role of deeply rooted pre‐colonial ethnic institutions in shaping
comparative regional development within African countries. We combine information on the …

We investigate the role of national institutions on subnational African development in a novel
framework that accounts for both local geography and cultural-genetic traits. We exploit the …

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 …

As Africa's role on the global stage is rising, so does the need to understand the shadow of
history on the continent's economy and polity. We discuss recent works that shed light on …

We investigate whether mining affects local corruption in Africa. Several cross‐country
analyses report that natural resources have adverse effects on political institutions by …

This paper investigates the trade-offs between local elites and state agents as tax collectors
in low-capacity states. We study a randomized policy experiment assigning neighborhoods …

Democratic transitions in the early 1990s introduced a sea change in Sub-Saharan African
politics. Between 1990 and 2015, several hundred competitive legislative and presidential …

We study ethnic favoritism in a global sample and rely on nighttime light intensity to capture
a broad range of preferential policies targeted towards the political leaders' ethnic …