This thesis is composed of three articles in development economics. The first studies the impact of conflicts on the academic performance of students at the end of primary school. It is shown that an increase in exposure to conflicts is associated with a significant reduction in performance in reading and mathematics. This work then presents a new database on Tunisia at the time of the French occupation (1881-1956), collected from colonial archives, revealing the spatial distribution of the Tunisian, French and European populations, schools, railways network, mining and port activity, and various public investments. These data are first used to analyze the persistence of the influence of exposure to colonial education in Tunisia on disparities in current education outcomes. It shows that the enrollment rate of Tunisian children in colonial schools in 1931 has a significant impact on literacy in 2014. It suggests that the effect of history can be annihilated by effective public policies such as the educational reform of 1989/91. The third article demonstrates that Roman roads influenced the distribution of local population before and during the first decades of colonization as well as that of the French population at the beginning of occupation. Once established, the French railway network became the main determinant of the distribution of French and Tunisian populations as well as public investments. Both networks also have a significant effect on economic activity in 2013.