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The Labor Productivity Differential between the West Indies and West Africa: 1680-1830

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  • Wasiq N. Khan

    (US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)

Abstract

This paper is an empirical test of Stefano Fenoaltea's (1999) hypothesis that the labor productivity differential between the Americas and West Africa was insufficient to cover the high mortality and transport costs of the forced transatlantic migration of slave labor. Using data on slave hire rates and slave subsistence costs in the West Indies from the mid-17th to the early 19th century, we measure surplus-to-subsistence ratios in the Americas and compare those measures to estimates of the surplus-to-subsistence ratios in Africa. Since there is almost no data on labor productivity in precolonial Africa, we impute surplus-to-subsistence ratios for Africa using estimates of fertility derived from the consensus view that the annual population growth in West Africa prior to the mid-19th century was 0.2% to 0.3%. We estimate the surplus-to-subsistence ratio required to maintain this population growth rate. By comparing an upper-bound estimate of the surplus-to-subsistence ratios of slave laborers in the West Indies to a lower-bound estimate for subsistence farmers in West Africa, we conclude that the labor productivity differential between West Africa and the West Indies was insufficient to cover the transport and mortality costs of the slave trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Wasiq N. Khan, 2022. "The Labor Productivity Differential between the West Indies and West Africa: 1680-1830," Annals of the Fondazione Luigi Einaudi. An Interdisciplinary Journal of Economics, History and Political Science, Fondazione Luigi Einaudi, Torino (Italy), vol. 56(1), pages 219-242, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:fle:journl:v:56:y:2022:i:1:p:219-242
    DOI: 10.26331/1178
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ruttan, Vernon W., 1987. "Induced innovation and agricultural development," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 196-216, August.
    2. Stefano Fenoaltea, 1999. "Europe in the African Mirror: The Slave Trade and the Rise of Feudalism," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 123-166.
    3. Ruttan, Vernon W. & Hayami, Yujiro, 1971. "Technology Transfer And Agricultural Development," Staff Papers 13993, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    4. Vernon W. Ruttan, 1971. "Economic Development of Agriculture: Discussion," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 53(2), pages 294-294.
    5. Richardson, David, 1991. "Prices of Slaves in West and West-Central Africa: Toward an Annual Series, 1698-1807," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 21-56, January.
    6. Engerman, Stanley L., 1973. "Some Considerations Relating to Property Rights in Man," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 43-65, March.
    7. Klas Rönnbäck & Dimitrios Theodoridis, 2019. "African agricultural productivity and the transatlantic slave trade: evidence from Senegambia in the nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 72(1), pages 209-232, February.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Slavery; Transatlantic; Labor Productivity; Africa; Trade Costs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N77 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Africa; Oceania
    • F2 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor

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