Replication data for: From Caliphate to the Clinic: The Role of Traditional Groups in Providing Public Goods in Nigeria

I test the Africa-wide finding that more centralized and stratified pre-colonial groups are associated with improved public good provision for the case of Nigeria. The observed effect for the density of facilities is quite weak. However, taking advantage of a unique and detailed survey, it is confirmed that the quality of public goods is higher in more centralized and stratified traditional groups. The methodology is able to demonstrate that the effect is mediated through government institutions and is targeted to the most responsive tier of government. Focusing on the mechanism by which history continues to exert influence, I argue that the most consistent explanation for these findings is that Nigerian traditional and government elites engage in political exchange. Centralized and stratified traditional groups have drawn on their historically-developed organizational structures to mobilize political resources. These resources are exchanged with government elites in return for improvements in local public goods. These findings suggest that history is key to finding effective modes of political accountability that can operate in weakly institutionalized and low information environments.