ABSTRACT This study identifies and analyses common and country-specific patterns in the evolution of the state in francophone West Africa through a detailed comparison of long-term fiscal capacity between Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger and Senegal. The study finds common patterns of long-term growth in fiscal capacity in the four countries since the early colonial period, which is indicative of a process of long-term economic development. It also finds significant differences in the historical fiscal pathways between the individual countries in spite of geographic proximity and common colonial heritage, which can be explained by country specific variation in economic and political context and in particular the prospects of key export commodities. These differences provide reasons to be cautious about generalizations about the history of the ‘African state’ and its capacity.

中文翻译：

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西非法语国家的长期发展态势：财政能力之路1850–2010

摘要本研究通过对贝宁，科特迪瓦，尼日尔和塞内加尔之间的长期财政能力进行详细比较，确定并分析了西非法语国家国家发展中的常见模式和特定国家模式。该研究发现，自殖民初期以来，这四个国家的财政能力长期增长的常见模式，这预示着长期经济发展的进程。报告还发现，尽管地理位置接近且具有共同的殖民地遗产，但各个国家之间的历史财政途径存在显着差异，这可以用特定国家在经济和政治背景下的变化，尤其是关键出口商品的前景来解释。