Lund Papers in Economic History,
Lund University, Department of Economic History

Abstract: How did colonial fiscal systems respond to economic crisis, and what were the distributional consequences of those responses? This paper examines fiscal policy and inequality in the Gold Coast during the Great Depression using newly reconstructed tax revenues and expenditure data linked to social tables. It estimates the tax burden relative to income, the sectoral incidence of taxation, and the regional distribution of public finance. The paper shows that although measured inequality declined during the Depression, the tax burden relative to income remained high and increased as fiscal balance was restored, while fiscal incidence stayed regressive. Fiscal stabilization was achieved through expenditure retrenchment and continued reliance on indirect taxation, concentrating the burden of adjustment on the colony’s monetized sectors while preserving a spatial fiscal structure in which the export-producing south financed colonial administration across the territory. The paper therefore shows that inequality and fiscal incidence diverged over the crisis and adjustment period, and argues that aggregate inequality trends obscure the distributional effects of economic shocks in trade-dependent and fiscally rigid economies.

Keywords: Colonial Ghana (Gold Coast); Income inequality; Fiscal policy; Tax incidence; Great Depression; Social tables

JEL-codes: D63; E62; H22; N47

Language: English

61 pages, August 21, 2026

Download statistics

• Lund University, Department of Economic History
• Home page for this series

Questions (including download problems) about the papers in this series should be directed to Finn Hedefalk ()
Report other problems with accessing this service to Sune Karlsson ().

RePEc:hhs:luekhi:0271This page generated on 2026-08-24 14:33:44.