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The significance of the Cape trade route to economic activity in the Cape colony: a medium-term business cycle analysis

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Author Info
Willem H Boshoff () (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch)
Johan Fourie () (Department of Economics, University of Stellenbosch)

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Abstract

Trade is a critical component of economic growth in newly settled societies. This paper tests the impact of ship traffic on the Cape economy using a time series smoothing technique borrowed from the business cycle literature and employing an econometric procedure to test for long-run relationships. The results suggest a strong systematic co-movement between wheat production and ship traffic, with less evidence for wine production and stock herding activities. While ship traffic created demand for wheat exports, the size of the co-movement provides evidence that ship traffic also stimulated local demand through secondary and tertiary sector activities, supporting the hypothesis that ship traffic acted as a catalyst for growth in the Cape economy.

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File URL: http://www.ekon.sun.ac.za/wpapers/2008/wp232008/wp-23-2008.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function: First version, 2008
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 23/2008.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers71

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Related research
Keywords: Colonial trade; Cape of Good Hope; Dutch East India; Band-pass filter; Medium-term fluctuations; Business cycle; South Africa; Ships; Harvest cycles; Colonial economy;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
N17 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Growth and Fluctuations - - - Africa; Oceania
E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
N77 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Africa; Oceania

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This page was last updated on 2009-11-28.

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