WP01-25

Golden towns? Artisanal mining and urbanization in Africa

Resumen

Since 1975, a significant share of urban population growth in Sub-Saharan Africa has occurred in small towns. This paper investigates the role of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASgM)–a labor-intensive activity highly sensitive to international gold prices–in driving these patterns. Leveraging exogenous variation in the value of potential ASgM activities and a detailed panel dataset spanning 45 years, we find that areas with greater exposure to ASgM experience faster population growth and the emergence of new towns. These effects are concentrated in small towns (fewer than 50,000 inhabitants) and are particularly pronounced in isolated zones, and zones with low initial population levels. Furthermore, taking the existence of towns as given, those with more ASgM tend to exhibit lower living standards and a higher prevalence of agricultural employment.

Autores: Victoire Girard