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governing the state and bureaucracy in Africa. This paper’s empirical analysis will
challenge these assumptions, revealing that these informal institutions are not only less
extensive, but also more influenced by state action than heretofore supposed in both
academic and policy circles.
In addition to testing and refining our theories of institutions, an analysis of the
economy of affection in Africa offers vital insights to policymakers trying to address the
social welfare needs of ordinary Africans in the short and long-term. This paper aims to
build on Hyden’s original analysis of the economy of affection in Tanzania (1980) by
asking how the protracted economic crisis – a crisis that began in many African countries
with the oil shocks and debt crisis in the 1970s and has dragged on, albeit with some ups
and downs, until today -- may have reshaped the informal institutions of the economy of
affection. Have decades of hard times stressed and strained the economy of affection so
much that individuals can no longer rely on these social networks to cope? Alternatively,
has the resilience of the economy of affection itself inhibited the material investment and
entrepreneurship necessary to emerge successfully from the economic doldrums?
Reexamining the economy of affection after years of grave economic difficulty not only
yields new empirical findings, but also illuminates the complex relationship between the
economy of affection and economic crisis itself.
In order to probe this relationship, the study draws from over 18 months of
intensive field research in two carefully matched regions of neighboring Côte d’Ivoire
and Ghana. This comparative case design controls many potential explanatory variables
such as levels of wealth, economic development, social infrastructure, inheritance
systems, etc. These two cases are particularly useful as they represent African states and
Convention