Things fall apart? Missions, institutions, and interpersonal trust

This paper studies the links between changes in traditional communities, due to historical Christian missionary activities, and differences in interpersonal trust between Africans today. We use various data on Christian missions to show that missions are associated with lower levels of trust within countries formerly under British indirect rule, but increased trust for all other countries. This result is robust to a variety of confounders and fixed ethnic characteristics. Using data on native prisons and prisoners in Nigeria, and Pew surveys in Africa, we demonstrate that the negative effects may be explained by weakened traditional institutions, norms, and beliefs, due to missionary activities under indirect rule.

Automated summary

This paper explores the impact of Christian missionary activities on traditional communities in Africa and interpersonal trust, finding that missions may lead to decreased trust in countries formerly under British indirect rule, but increased trust in other countries. The negative effects are attributed to weakened traditional institutions, norms, and beliefs due to missionary activities under indirect rule.