Lewis revisited: tropical polities competing on the world market 1830-1938

Giovanni Federico
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Antonio Tena Junguito

IFCS - Working Papers in Economic History.WH from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Instituto Figuerola

Abstract: Since the seminal work by W.A. Lewis, exports of primary products have been deemed the main or sole source of growth in tropical countries before the Great Depression. This conventional wisdom, however, relies on very limited evidence. This paper analyses the growth of exports with a constant market share analysis for 84 tropical polities. Exports grew a lot, but less than total trade, while relative prices of tropical products remained roughly constant. We thus tentatively infer that the decline in the tropical shares on world trade reflects an insufficient demand for tropical products. Asia mastered well these headwinds throughout the whole period, while African polities blossomed after World War One. The loser was (South) America, and most notably the Caribbean former slave colonies especially before 1870.

Keywords: International; Trade; Tropical; trade; World; Trade; Nineteenth; Century; Twentieth; Century (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F14 N10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-07-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: Lewis revisited: tropical polities competing on the world market, 1830–1938 (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cte:whrepe:23305

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