What About the Race Between Technology and Education in the Global South? Comparing Skill-Premiums in Colonial Africa and Asia

This article examines the long-run relationship between technological change, education, and labor market inequality in colonial and post-colonial Africa and Asia. Using a newly constructed occupational wage database covering 50 economies from roughly 1870 to 2010, the authors analyze patterns in skill premiums across regions and over time. The study finds that skill premiums were substantially higher in colonial Africa and Asia than in pre-industrial Europe, with Africa exhibiting especially high premiums relative to Asia. Over the twentieth century, however, skill premiums declined sharply and converged toward levels observed in Western economies. The authors argue that colonial institutions, labor market structures, and unequal educational development shaped these trajectories