Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/268762 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
African Economic History Working Paper Series No. 65/2021
Publisher: 
African Economic History Network (AEHN), s.l.
Abstract: 
We study whether present-day women political participation in sub-Saharan Africa can be linked to the temporary gender ratio imbalances caused by the transatlantic and Indian Ocean slave trades, taking into account pre-existing gender norms influenced by kinship structures. Using individual-level data for 29 sub-Saharan African countries from the latest Afrobarometer surveys, ethnic region kinship and slave trade data, we find that a woman's ethnic region exposure to the transatlantic slave trade is associated with an increase in her likelihood to vote, however, only in non-patrilineal ethnic regions. This effect is mitigated in patrilineal ethnic regions, where women have less decision-making power. This paper contributes to the literature on the contemporary sub-national effects of the slave trades and the historical causes of gender gaps in political participation.
Subjects: 
Slave Trade
Gender
Africa
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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