Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade
James Fenske and
Namrata Kala ()
Additional contact information
Namrata Kala: Yale University
No 13036, Working Papers from Economic History Society
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."
JEL-codes: N00 (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)
http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/45980490-7d6f-4f3a-8d4e-0ebfc23224fe.pdf (application/pdf)
Our link check indicates that this URL is bad, the error code is: 404 Not Found (http://www.ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/45980490-7d6f-4f3a-8d4e-0ebfc23224fe.pdf [301 Moved Permanently]--> https://ehs.org.uk/dotAsset/45980490-7d6f-4f3a-8d4e-0ebfc23224fe.pdf)
Related works:
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2013) 
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2013) 
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2012) 
Working Paper: Climate, ecosystem resilience and the slave trade (2012) 
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:ehs:wpaper:13036
Access Statistics for this paper
More papers in Working Papers from Economic History Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chair Public Engagement Committe (currently David Higgins - Newcastle) ().