This article explores how precolonial social identities influence contemporary public goods allocation under democratic decentralization in West Africa.

Understanding Governance: The case of Senegal reveals that formal institutions interact dynamically with historical ethnic and identity structures, which persist despite significant political changes. This interaction creates what the author terms 'institutional congruence', improving local governance capabilities.

New Research Findings: Using geocoded data on village-level public goods investments from the 2000s alongside elite interviews, we find that areas with stronger historical connections to precolonial states distribute goods more broadly in space. These patterns diverge significantly from typical ethnic-based allocation dynamics.

Mechanism of Influence: The research demonstrates that when social identities geographically aligned with formal governance structures exist, they facilitate local cooperation and resource distribution across broader spatial units.

Wider Significance: This work challenges the view of identity as static over time. It shows how historical legacies can enhance modern governance performance in subnational contexts following decentralization reforms.