%I IMT Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca
%A Mark Dincecco
%A James Fenske
%A Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato
%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.”
%K Keywords: warfare, state development, fiscal capacity, civil conflict, Africa. 
JEL codes: C10, H20, O55, N40, P48
%L eprints2738
%D 2015
%T Is Africa Different? Historical Conflict and State Development
%N 8