Ariane Salem (Université de Genève)

The Negative Impacts of Colonization on the Local Population: Evidence from Morocco

Abstract

Did colonial farming improve or worsen local welfare? To answer this question, I investigate the health effect of early exposure to French farms in colonial Morocco. If European colonists modernized agriculture in this colony of settlement, thereby increasing total productivity, the extractive colonial production took over resources, crowding out local producers. Using a novel individual dataset of Moroccan soldiers enrolled in French Morocco, I estimate the effect of being born in proximity to colonial farms on adult height, a proxy for early-life conditions. The results derived from a difference-in-difference strategy indicate that cohorts born near colonial farms grew smaller after the arrival of settlers. This adverse effect on health can be explained by the capture of local factors of production and changes in factor intensity. I highlight two mitigating mechanisms: new trade opportunities and technological spillovers. These results shed new lights on the weight of colonization on development, pinning down the channel of structural change in the rural sector.

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