As part of the Brown Bag Lunch series, the International Economics Department at the Graduate Institute is pleased to invite you to a public talk given by Orlando Zambrano Roman, PhD Researcher in International Economics

Colonial (Dis)Integration: Concession Companies and Human Development in Mozambique

by Orlando Zambrano Roman

Abstract: Concessions to private companies were a common form of economic and administrative organization during the colonial era in Africa. In 1890 and 1891, Portugal granted vast concessions to two private companies with the goal to administrate and develop part of its colony, Mozambique. The concession companies levied taxes and enforced labour with a policy of violence and terror. I use the arbitrarily defined borders of the concession companies to examine the effect of this form of organization on contemporary development outcomes. I find that individuals living in areas with historical exposure to the rule of the Moçambique Company are wealthier when compared to their counterparts living outside the concession boundary. I also find that individuals living in areas with historical exposure to the rule of the Nyassa Company are less educated when compared to their counterparts living outside the concession boundary. My results shed light on the effects of the concession system on contemporary development outcomes and aim to advance the understanding of the colonial origins of the lack of integration in Mozambique.