4 - The Origins of Inequality

Summary

This chapter shows how the modern state’s first two major interventions into society explain the origins of contemporary intra-ethnic inequality in Northern Ghana. The chapter begins by explaining the research design, detailing how the pre-1914 colonial border creates an opportunity to estimate long-run effects of the colonial state’s imposition of new intra-ethnic elites. I then introduce the data and explain how inequality is measured. The analysis first establishes a strong correlation between the invention of chieftaincy and inequality today, comparing the “invented chiefs” and “never recognized” communities. I then explain how the state’s selective provision of education accounts for this relationship. The final section rules out a series of alternative explanations and mechanisms.