The study of inequality has seen a revival in recent decades, spurred by publications such as Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century and Branko Milanovic’s Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalisation. This literature covers a wide range of geographical regions and historical periods but, for the most part, only grazes sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, many analyses rely on a “compression of history”, broad generalisations, or stylised facts when trying to explain “generally high levels of inequality” in sub-Saharan Africa, which are said to have (relatively unspecified) “colonial roots”.
Despite new publications on the comparative trends covering the last two decades (Odusola et al. 2017) and long-trends for a number of countries (Bolt and Hillbom 2016, Alfani and Tadei 2017), our understanding of inequality trends in sub-Saharan Africa in general, as well as their drivers and mechanisms is still patchy, and much work needs to be done.
This panel aims at bringing together researchers working on historical and contemporary inequality in sub-Saharan Africa. By presenting new empirical data, as well as analyses of the different drivers and mechanisms, we hope to stimulate discussions and encourage further research that can help expand our knowledge of inequality on the continent.
Presenters and papers:
Sascha Klocke: Income Inequality in Tanzania, c. 1920-2010
Calumet Links, Dieter von Fintel and Erik Green: Inequality and extraction ratios in a slave economy: The case of Cape colony
Prince Young Aboagye: Bringing People Back In: Interest Groups, Taxation and Income Distribution in Ghana
Jutta Bolt, Erik Green and Ellen Hillbom: Long-term inequality trends in southern Africa: Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe compared