%I IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca %T Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development %N 8 %X We show that the consequences of historical warfare for state development differ for Sub-Saharan Africa. We identify the locations of more than 1,500 conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Europe from 1400 to 1799. We find that historical warfare predicts common-interest states defined by high fiscal capacity and low civil conflict across much of the OldWorld. For Sub-Saharan Africa, historical warfare predicts special-interest states defined by high fiscal capacity and high civil conflict. Our results offer new evidence about where and when ?war makes states.? %L eprints2738 %D 2015 %K Keywords: warfare, state development, fiscal capacity, civil conflict, Africa. JEL codes: C10, H20, O55, N40, P48 %A Mark Dincecco %A James Fenske %A Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato