European empires dominated entire continents for centuries. Yet, the literature on colonial legacies has largely focused on the long-term effects of colonialism in former colonies, overlooking its consequences for the former colonial powers themselves. We study the effect of Fascist Italy’s colonial campaigns in East Africa in the 1930s on contemporary political outcomes. Using data on the surnames of all Italian soldiers buried in Eritrea and Ethiopia, and the contemporary distribution of surnames across Italy,  we construct an index of exposure to colonial wars at the municipality level. We show that municipalities more exposed to 1930s colonial wars are more likely to support far-right parties today. To address endogeneity concerns, we adopt an Instrumental Variable (IV) approach. Our IV exploits the historical geographical distribution of mountain troops, which were disproportionately deployed in East Africa because of Ethiopia's mountainous territory. The instrument is unrelated to pre-1930 electoral outcomes. The IV estimates confirm a causal interpretation for our results. Moreover, we show that the observed effects are stronger in municipalities with more migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Fisheries provide livelihoods for 8 percent of the global population, especially in developing countries. I study the impact of the first offshore oil and gas discoveries in Senegal on the fisheries sector. Leveraging the plausibly exogenous timing and location of the discoveries as a natural experiment, I employ a difference-in-differences approach, comparing fishing municipalities close to the discovery sites to fishing areas farther away. The results show a sharp decline in artisanal fishing, offset by growth in industrial fishing. I argue that this shift is driven by a reduction in fish stocks and physical access to fishing grounds in coastal waters, highlighting a case of involuntary structural transformation from artisanal fisheries to industrial activities. At the same time, I find that treated areas experience significant increases in employment rates.