Forget your gods: African evidence on the relation between state capacity and cognitive ability of leading politicians

Abstract

This paper uses a unique dataset to investigate the effect of the cognitive ability of leading politicians on state capacity. Given the evidence that cognitive ability of leading politicians’ affects state capacity positively, except Africa. For the continent, this relationship between state and cognitive ability of leading politicians is negative. This finding is robust to a wide range of specifications and controls variables. Justifications for the unexpected nexus are provided.