Slavery and Trust: An Experimental Analysis in Côte d’Ivoire

The Atlantic slave trade has long been claimed to be a primary reason as to why Africa remains relatively poor today. A variety of effects have been analyzed, but perhaps most important is slavery's effect on current levels of trust. In Africa, levels of trust remain relatively low in those places where slaves were captured compared to where they were not captured: research by Nunn and Wantchekon (2011) in Ghana using Afrobarometer data indicates that those places where slaves were captured have lower levels of trust than those places from where slaves were not captured and sold. However, these results are observational and those enslaving selected certain groups especially those that were different and easy to divide or those with relatively low levels of trust to begin with. Moreover, the use of the Afrobarometer data is problematic as it is not collected for the purpose of testing hypotheses about slavery. Despite these shortcomings, understanding the effects of slavery on trust remains a critical area of research for scholars in political economy. This project tests the connection between slavery and trust using an experimental analysis of two Akan groups in Côte d’Ivoire, the Aboure and Agni. While both groups are Akan, historically they remain adversaries in part due to slavery and thus they represent an important means to test the effect of slavery on trust. To do so, I will implement a survey asking the same questions of trust used by Nunn and Wantchekon, but here randomly assigning respondents a statement and picture about the legacy and history of slavery. I propose two general hypotheses: following Nunn and Wantchekon, I argue that those treated will exhibit lower levels of trust; alternatively, I discuss the view that people today did not directly experience slavery and thus there is no reason that those treated will exhibit different levels of trust than those not treated with a statement about slavery. Beyond feelings of trust, behavioral effects will be tested by asking respondents if they would like to give the enumerator their participation fee as a donation. If they trust the enumerator to make the donation then they will make the donation. The treatment of slavery should make them less likely to donate. We will sample in two areas known as strongholds of each group including Bonoua for the Aboure and Aboisso for the Agni.