COMPLACENT OR COMPETITIVE? BRITISH EXPORTERS AND THE DRIFT TO EMPIRE

Gary Magee and Andrew S. Thompson

No 889, Department of Economics - Working Papers Series from The University of Melbourne

Abstract: The belief that Britain’s empire markets were soft is well entrenched in the literature. It is, however, a belief that has been largely untested. Indeed, the literature does not even offer an explicit definition of softness. This paper attempts to fill this gap by discussing the meaning of the term and, then, posing the question whether between 1870 and 1914 Britain’s fastest growing markets – Australasia and Canada – can in fact be reasonably labelled soft, as has often been assumed. The paper concludes that the demand for British imports in these markets were driven more by income and price considerations than by colonial sentiment or preference.

Keywords: Empire markets; soft markets; British exports; imperial sentiments (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 34 pages
Date: 2003
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