The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence

Keith Head, Thierry Mayer and John Ries ()

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: The majority of independent nations today were part of empires in 1945. Using bilateral trade data from 1948 to 2006, we examine the effect of independence on post-colonial trade. On average, there is little short run effect of trade with the colonizer (metropole). However, after three decades trade declines more than 60%. We also find that trade between former colonies of the same empire erodes as much as trade with the metropole, whereas trade with third countries exhibits small and unsystematic changes after independence. Hostile separations lead to larger and more immediate reductions. Trade deterioration over extended time periods suggests the depreciation of some form of trading capital such as business networks or institutions.

Date: 2008
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-01066116v1
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Downloads: (external link)
https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-01066116v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence (2011)
Working Paper: The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence (2011)
Journal Article: The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence (2010)
Working Paper: The Erosion of Colonial Trade Linkages after Independence (2008)
Working Paper: The Erosion of Colonial Trade Linkages After Independence (2008)
Working Paper: The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence (2008)
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:hal:wpaper:hal-01066116

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().