Caribbean slavery and British growth

Barbara L. Solow

Journal of Development Economics, 1985, vol. 17, issue 1, 99-115

Abstract: The paper supports the hypothesis advanced by Eric Williams that slavery in the British West Indies contributed significantly to English industrial growth in the second half of the eighteenth century. Objections are raised to earlier criticisms of the Williams hypothesis, and a simple Cobb-Douglas model is used to demonstrate how the slave colonies contributed to home country growth and that this contribution was quantitatively important. The paper concludes that colonial slavery increased British national income and the pool of investable funds and resulted in a pattern of trade that encouraged industrialization.

Date: 1985
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:17:y:1985:i:1:p:99-115

DOI: 10.1016/0304-3878(85)90024-0

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