The role of exports in the economy of colonial North America : new estimates for the middle colonies / Peter Mancall, Joshua Rosenbloom, Thomas J. Weiss.
Material type:
TextSeries: Working paper series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. 14334.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. : National Bureau of Economic Research, 2008Description: 36 p. : ill. ; 22 cmSubject(s): Exports -- North America -- History -- 18th century | Great Britain -- Colonies -- America -- Economic conditions -- 18th century | North America -- Economic conditions -- 18th centuryLOC classification: HB1 | .N38 no. 14334Online resources: Click here to access online Summary: Economic historians of the eighteenth-century British mainland North American colonies have given considerable weight to the role of exports as a stimulus for economic growth. Yet their analyses have been handicapped by reliance on one or two time series to serve as indicators of broader changes rather than considering the export sector as a whole. Here we construct comprehensive export measures for the middle colonies. We find that aggregate exports did grow quickly but that this expansion failed to keep pace with population growth during much of the period under consideration. We argue this result challenges the export staples model on the role of foreign demand as a stimulus for economic growth. Instead, these results emphasize the impact of resource abundance and labor and capital scarcity as the defining characteristics of colonial economic growth.
| Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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University of Macedonia Library Βιβλιοστάσιο Β (Stack Room B) | Research Papers | HB1.N38 no. 14334 (Browse shelf (Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 0013115751 |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 20- 22).
Economic historians of the eighteenth-century British mainland North American colonies have given considerable weight to the role of exports as a stimulus for economic growth. Yet their analyses have been handicapped by reliance on one or two time series to serve as indicators of broader changes rather than considering the export sector as a whole. Here we construct comprehensive export measures for the middle colonies. We find that aggregate exports did grow quickly but that this expansion failed to keep pace with population growth during much of the period under consideration. We argue this result challenges the export staples model on the role of foreign demand as a stimulus for economic growth. Instead, these results emphasize the impact of resource abundance and labor and capital scarcity as the defining characteristics of colonial economic growth.
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