Epilogue

Summary

This final chapter concludes the book with a discussion of the theory’s significance for broader scholarly and policy implications that result from the central argument. Uneven access to public goods throughout a state’s territory can be reflective of historical exposure to institutions that alienated people from central state authority. Importantly, the argument and evidence presented in this book suggest that extractive institutions can affect modern access to public goods through both institutions and attitudes that get transmitted over generations. It also raises the point that while military colonialism is yet another example of the deleterious consequences of extractive institutions for development, it shows that what matters are the specific instruments of colonial extraction, including violence, the removal of private property, as well as underinvestment in public infrastructure and underprovision of public goods.