Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Comparative Analysis of Public Transfers between France and
its Colonies
Denis Cogneau1 , Elise Huillery2 , Sandrine Mesple-Somps3
AEHN - October 22nd 2016
1
2
3
EHESS-PSE
Paris Dauphine
IRD - Paris Dauphine
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Motivation
I
I
February 23, 2005 - The French parliament adopted a law
requiring French history textbooks to recognize the positive
role of colonization
Why?
I
I
I
Massive investments in education, health and infrastructure in
the colonies
France's contribution to colonies' development
Raging polarized debate in 2005 among the French civil
society
I
The controversial article was nally amended
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Motivation
Broader debate on the economic costs and benets of colonization
for colonizers
I
Colonial trade
I
I
I
Reduced transaction costs
Reduced competition
Investments in the colonies
I
I
Protability of private investments
Burden of public investment on mainland budgets
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Motivation
And for colonies
I
Workforce: new diseases, new medicines, WWI&II
I
Colonial trade
I
I
I
Specialized economies
Extraverted economies
Investments in the colonies
I
I
I
State building, institutions
Public investments
Private investments
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
This paper
Modest scope: who paid for the realized expenditures?
I What share of colonies' revenue was provided by France?
I What share of French revenue was invested in the colonies?
I How dierent was colonization in the dierent parts of the
French empire?
No claim to tell anything about the welfare impact of colonization
I No attempt to estimate contrefactual GDP, tax revenue and
public expenditure
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Existing Literature
I
Colonization was burdensome for mainland British and French
taxpayers
I
I
I
Tax burden on the British taxpayers could have been reduced
by 20 percent (Davis and Huttenback 1986, O'Brien 1988)
The colonies represented 8-9% of French public expenditures
(Marseille 1884, Bobrie 1976)
France developed the colonies
I
France funded an average of 13% of annual public investment
in AOF between 1905 and 1938 (Coquery-Vidrovitch 1982)
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Little and Incomplete Evidence
I
Incomplete analysis
I
I
I
I
Specic periods of time
Specic budgets
Specic colonies
Some (big) errors in data analysis
I
I
Disbursement of loans considered as subsidies
Trade decits considered as subsidies
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Contribution
I
Eventually all French colonies
I
but
Today, all French colonies
North Africa and Togo:
AOF, AEF, Indochine, Madgascar, Cameroun
I
Whole colonial period: 1830-1960
I
All budgets and types of transfers
I
I
I
Both colonial and French budgets (transfers in the two
directions!)
All types of budgets: federal, local, special
All types of transfers: civil and military, subsidies to private
and public sector, loans
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Introduction
Outline
I
Data
I
Empirical Strategy
I
Results
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Data
Backgroung on Colonial Public Finances
Metropolitan Budget
(Ministry of Colonies)
Private companies
Federal Budget
Special Budgets
(public companies)
Local Budget
Subsidy
Cash Advance
Loan
Cash Advance repayment
Loan repayment
Loan Budgets
Local Budget
… etc.
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Data
Data Sources
I
Colonial budgets (nal accounts) - BNF, Paris
I
I
Federal budgets: AOF 1905-1959, AEF 1898-1959, Indochine
1899-1959
Local budgets as soon as budgets existed:
I Senegal 1865, Cochinchine 1867, Madagascar 1898,
Gabon-Tchad-Oubangui-Congo 1904, Cameroun 1922
I Old colonies' budget not collected
I
Metropolitan budgets (nal accounts) - BNF, Paris
I
I
Ministry of (Navy Forces and) Colonies: 1833-1959
Ministry of War (Defense): 1833-1959
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Data
Data Description
I
Year by year (if available), at each level of budget:
I
I
I
I
I
Total revenue and expenses
Loan disbursement / repayment
Cash advances disbursement / repayment
Subsidies to the private and public sector
Monetary unit is 1914 Franc (price consumption index from
INSEE)
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Empirical Strategy
French Expenditures for colonies versus Contributions to
colonies' Revenue
Some French expenditures related to colonies' colonization did not
add up to colonies' revenue
I
Military costs associated with conquest and pacication
I
I
I
Personnel and material expenses associated with conquering
the colonies
Cost of recruiting and transporting the Senegalese Tirailleurs
to serve in the French army
Do
include the cost associated with local defense, which
was supported by colonies
not
=> Include in the cost for France
=> Exclude from colonies' benet
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Empirical Strategy
French Expenditures for colonies versus Contributions to
colonies' Revenue
I
Operating costs of the central colonial administration in Paris
I
I
Ministry of Colonies, Colonial School (Ecole Coloniale),
Colonial Garden (now called Jardin Tropical de Paris), colonial
inspections, the agency tasked with colonial propaganda
(Agence Générale des Colonies), the communication between
the metropole and the colonies and the two colonial exhibitions
held in Paris in 1907 and 1931
Some of these expenditures would have been supported by the
colonies, others would not
=> Include in the cost for France and in colonies' benet
(conservative estimates)
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Empirical Strategy
French Expenditures for colonies versus Contributions to
colonies' Revenue
I
Transfers to the private sector (mostly railway companies)
I
We assume independent African states would have invested
the same way
=> Include in the cost for France and in colonies' benet
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Empirical Strategy
French Expenditures for colonies versus Contributions to
colonies' Revenue
I
Public loans
I
I
I
I
Loans contracted with public/private banks
Secured by the French government => implicit benet
Public works funded by the loans must use French materials
and shipping companies => implicit cost
No default until 1959 (at least)
=> Exclude from the cost for France and from colonies'
benet
NB: Next step: what happened after independance? Did loan
repayments stop?
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Empirical Strategy
Estimates of Interest
Cost of
=
colonies
Cost of
+
conquest
Cost of
+
central
for French
admin.
taxpayers
French
contributi.
to '
=
Cost of
conquest
+
Cost of
central
admin.
+
Subsidies
+
Subsidies
to private
to local
companies
budgets
−
Subsidies
from
colonies
operating
to the
in colonies
Metropole
Subsidies
+
Subsidies
to private
to local
companies
budgets
−
Subsidies
from
colonies
colonies
operating
to the
revenue
in colonies
Metropole
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
% French Expenditure for colonies
.15
.1
.05
0
Proportion of expenditure devoted to colonies
Net Expenditure for colonies to Total French expenditure
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
1890 1900
year
Total
Military
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960
Civil
Average = 2.3% of French expenditure (2% Military + 0.3% Civil)
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
% French Expenditure, by Colony
.08
.06
.04
.02
0
Proportion of French Expenditure
.1
Net Exp. in Colonies to French Expenditure
1830 1840
1850
1860 1870
1880
1890 1900 1910
year
AOF
Indochine
Cameroun
1920
1930 1940
1950
1960
AEF
Madagascar
The most expensive colony is by far Indochina
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
% French Military Expenditure, by Colony
.08
.06
.04
.02
0
Proportion of French Expenditure
.1
Military Exp. in Colonies to French Expenditure
1830 1840
1850
1860 1870
1880
1890 1900 1910
year
AOF
Indochine
Old Colonies
1920
1930 1940
1950
1960
AEF
Madagascar
Cameroun
8
Essentially due
toExp.
Indochina's
and decolonization
Civil
in Coloniesconquest
to French Expenditure
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
% French Civil Expenditure, by Colony
.005
0
-.005
Proportion of French Expenditure
.01
Net Civil Exp. in Colonies to French Expenditure
1830 1840
1850
1860 1870
1880
1890 1900 1910
year
AOF
Indochine
Cameroun
1920
1930 1940
1950
1960
AEF
Madagascar
Indochina subsidized France - Post-WWII investments (FIDES)
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
French Contribution to Colonies (% total revenue)
1
.5
0
-.5
Proportion of colonies' expenditure
1.5
French Contribution to Colonies' Public Expenditure
1905
1910
1915
1920
1925
1930
year
AOF
Indochine
Cameroun
1935
1940
1945
1950
1955
AEF
Madagascar
AEF was highly dependent on France - Huge contributions after
WWII
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Results
French Contribution to Colonies (% total revenue)
French contribution to colonies' public expenditure
Average contribution over 1905-1957
Indochine
-7%
AOF
2.5%
Madagascar
6%
Cameroun
9%
AEF
41%?
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Conclusion
Conclusions
1. French point of view:
I
Colonies were not burdensome for French taxpayers:
I
I
Military cost accounts for the vast majority
I
I
I
I
2% of French expenditure during all colonial period
The most expensive part is Indochina's independence war: 3%
to 9% of French expenditure in 1946-1954
: military cost = 1.3% of French expenditure during
all colonial period
Without it
Civil expenditure has been quite light:
I
I
I
2.3% of French expenditure during all colonial period
0.3% of French expenditure during all colonial period
Never exceeds 2% even after WWII (FIDES)
Did North Africa dier much from the other colonies?
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Conclusion
Conclusions
2. Colonies' point of view:
I
I
I
Until WWII: apart AEF, France did not contribute much to
colonies' expenditure
After WWII: huge French contributions to colonies'
expenditure
Large dierences among colonies:
I
I
I
AEF received a lot relative to its scal capacity all over the
colonial period
AOF, Cameroun and Madagascar received great contributions
but only lately
Indochine was always taxed by France instead of subsidized
Who Bore the Cost of French Colonies?
Conclusion
Conclusions
I
Three French colonizations:
I
I
I
I
XIXth century: moderate expenditure in the colonies, mostly
military but also civil
1900-1945: no transfer to the colonies - Indochina subsidied
France!
After WWII: large expenditure, primarily military but also civil
Indochina and AEF experienced opposite colonizations
I
I
Indochina: burdensome domination / developed on its own
AEF: free domination / highly dependent