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British capital and merchandise exports, 1870-1913: the bilateral case of New Zealand

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  • Varian, Brian D.

Abstract

The Ford thesis argued that there was a short-term causal relationship between British overseas investment and British merchandise exports in the late nineteenth century. However, economic historians since Ford have found little empirical evidence in support of this argument. Using data on bilateral British lending, this article finds that such a relationship did exist, with British ex ante lending preceding merchandise exports by 2 years. A case study of New Zealand, which had an extraordinarily high share of Britain in its imports, reveals that the relationship was conditional upon the lending being allocated to social overhead capital.

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  • Varian, Brian D., 2017. "British capital and merchandise exports, 1870-1913: the bilateral case of New Zealand," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 68925, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:68925
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    Cited by:

    1. Brian D. Varian, 2022. "Imperial preference before the Ottawa Agreements: Evidence from New Zealand's Preferential and Reciprocal Trade Act of 1903," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1214-1241, November.
    2. Sean Bottomley & Brian D. Varian, 2024. "Information costs and trade: Evidence from international electric telegraphy during the "golden age" of globalisation," CEH Discussion Papers 09, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Britain; gold standard; New Zealand; overseas investment; trade;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • N73 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N77 - Economic History - - Economic History: Transport, International and Domestic Trade, Energy, and Other Services - - - Africa; Oceania

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