EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade

James Fenske and Namrata Kala

No 9449, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: African societies exported more slaves in colder years. Lower temperatures reduced mortality and raised agricultural yields, lowering slave supply costs. Our results help explain African participation in the slave trade, which predicts adverse outcomes today. We use an annual panel of African temperatures and port-level slave exports to show that exports declined when local temperatures were warmer than normal. This result is strongest where African ecosystems are least resilient to climate change. Cold weather shocks at the peak of the slave trade predict lower economic activity today. We support our interpretation using the histories of Whydah, Benguela, and Mozambique.

Keywords: climate; Conflict; Environment; Slave trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N57 O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-04
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://cepr.org/publications/DP9449 (application/pdf)
CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

Related works:
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2013) Downloads
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2013) Downloads
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2012) Downloads
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2012) Downloads
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9449

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
https://cepr.org/publications/DP9449

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers Centre for Economic Policy Research, 33 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9449