IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hai/wpaper/202023.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Understanding the Gains to Capitalists from Colonization: Lessons from Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Karl Marx and Edward Gibbon Wakefield

Author

Listed:
  • Edwyna Harris

    (Monash University)

  • Sumner La Croix

    (University of Hawai‘i)

Abstract

Britain after the Napoleonic wars saw the rise of colonial reformers, such as Edward Wakefield, who had extensive influence on British colonial policy. A version of Wakefield’s “System of Colonization” became the basis for legislation establishing the South Australia colony in 1834 and the New Zealand colony in 1840. We use extended versions of Robert Lucas’s 1990 model of coordinated colonial investment to show how Wakefield’s institutions were designed to work. We also show that the critique of Wakefield’s system by Karl Marx in Das Kapital closely follows Lucas’s analysis of colonial institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Edwyna Harris & Sumner La Croix, 2020. "Understanding the Gains to Capitalists from Colonization: Lessons from Robert E. Lucas, Jr., Karl Marx and Edward Gibbon Wakefield," Working Papers 202023, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:202023
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.economics.hawaii.edu/research/workingpapers/WP_20-23.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2020
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lucas, Robert E, Jr, 1990. "Why Doesn't Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(2), pages 92-96, May.
    2. Morgan Kelly & Joel Mokyr & Cormac Ó Gráda, 2023. "The Mechanics of the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(1), pages 59-94.
    3. Edwyna Harris & Sumner La Croix, 2020. "South Australia’s Employment Relief Program for Assisted Immigrants: Promises and Reality, 1838-1843," Working Papers 202008, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    4. Jaume Ventura & Hans-Joachim Voth, 2015. "Debt into growth: How sovereign debt accelerated the first Industrial Revolution," Economics Working Papers 1483, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    5. Jane Humphries & Jacob Weisdorf, 2019. "Unreal Wages? Real Income and Economic Growth in England, 1260–1850," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 129(623), pages 2867-2887.
    6. Edwyna Harris & Sumner La Croix, 2021. "Australia’s Forgotten Copper Mining Boom: Understanding How South Australia Avoided Dutch Disease, 1843–1850," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 97(318), pages 424-439, September.
    7. Douglas A. Irwin & Maksym G. Chepeliev, 2020. "The Economic Consequences of Sir Robert Peel: A Quantitative Assessment of the Repeal of the Corn Laws," NBER Working Papers 28142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1990. "The impact of the Corn Laws just prior to repeal," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 123-156, April.
    9. Alan Dye & Sumner La Croix, 2012. "The Political Economy of Land Privatization in Argentina and Australia, 1810-1850," Working Papers 201207, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    10. H. O. Pappe, 1951. "Wakefield And Marx," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 4(1), pages 88-97, August.
    11. O'Connell, Darren & Austen, Siobhan, 2017. "The tortoise and the hare: how North's institutional ideas resolved a 19th century Australian fable," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 161-188, March.
    12. Piterberg, Gabriel & Veracini, Lorenzo, 2015. "Wakefield, Marx, and the world turned inside out," Journal of Global History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 457-478, November.
    13. repec:oup:econjl:v:129:y:2019:i:10:p:2867-2887. is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Edwyna Harris & Sumner La Croix, 2020. "South Australia’s Employment Relief Program for Assisted Immigrants: Promises and Reality, 1838-1843," CEH Discussion Papers 03, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    15. Edward R. Kittrell, 1973. "Wakefield's Scheme of Systematic Colonization and Classical Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 87-112, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003. "Does Globalization Make the World More Unequal?," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization in Historical Perspective, pages 227-276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2002. "Mondialisation et inégalité : une longue histoire," Revue d’économie du développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 10(1), pages 7-41.
    3. Douglas A. Irwin & Maksym G. Chepeliev, 2020. "The Economic Consequences of Sir Robert Peel: A Quantitative Assessment of the Repeal of the Corn Laws," NBER Working Papers 28142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Adugna Lemi & Sisay Asefa, 2009. "Differential Impacts of Economic Volatility and Governance on Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing Foreign Direct Investments: The Case of US Multinationals in Africa," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 35(3), pages 367-395.
    5. D’Erasmo, P. & Mendoza, E.G. & Zhang, J., 2016. "What is a Sustainable Public Debt?," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 2493-2597, Elsevier.
    6. Rabah Arezki & Klaus Deininger & Harris Selod, 2015. "What Drives the Global "Land Rush"?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 29(2), pages 207-233.
    7. Mercy W. Mwangi & Amos G. Njuguna & George O. Achoki, 2019. "Relationship between corruption and capital flight in Kenya: 1998-2018," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 8(5), pages 237-250, September.
    8. Kristin J. Forbes, 2007. "The Microeconomic Evidence on Capital Controls: No Free Lunch," NBER Chapters, in: Capital Controls and Capital Flows in Emerging Economies: Policies, Practices, and Consequences, pages 171-202, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Damien Capelle & Bruno Pellegrino, 2023. "Unbalanced Financial Globalization," CESifo Working Paper Series 10642, CESifo.
    10. Massimiliano Affinito, 2011. "Convergence clubs, the euro-area rank and the relationship between banking and real convergence," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 809, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Kala Krishna & Abhiroop Mukhopadhyay & Cemile Yavas, 2005. "Trade with Labor Market Distortions and Heterogeneous Labor: Why Trade Can Hurt," Contributions to Economics, in: Günter S. Heiduk & Kar-yiu Wong (ed.), WTO and World Trade, pages 65-83, Springer.
    12. Ibrahim D. Raheem & Sara le Roux & Simplice A. Asongu, 2019. "The Role of Asymmetry and Uncertainties in the Capital Flows- Economic Growth Nexus," Research Africa Network Working Papers 19/047, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    13. Leonor Freire Costa & António Henriques & Nuno Palma, 2022. "Anatomy of a Premodern State," Economics Discussion Paper Series 2208, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    14. Craig Burnside & Alexandra Tabova, 2009. "Risk, Volatility, and the Global Cross-Section of Growth Rates," NBER Working Papers 15225, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. ?gel de la Fuente, "undated". "Convergence Across Countries And Regions: Theory And Empirics," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 447.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    16. Henry, Peter B. & Lorentzen, Peter Lombard, 2003. "Domestic Capital Market Reform and Access to Global Finance: Making Markets Work," Research Papers 1820, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    17. Pozzolo, Alberto Franco, 2004. "Endogenous Growth in Open Economies - A Survey of Major Results," Economics & Statistics Discussion Papers esdp04020, University of Molise, Department of Economics.
    18. Maurice Obstfeld & Alan M. Taylor, 1998. "The Great Depression as a Watershed: International Capital Mobility over the Long Run," NBER Chapters, in: The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century, pages 353-402, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Carmen M. Reinhart & Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2004. "Serial Default and the "Paradox" of Rich-to-Poor Capital Flows," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 53-58, May.
    20. Muhammad Shahbaz & Pervaz Azim & Khalil Ahmad, 2011. "Exports-Led Growth Hypothesis in Pakistan: Further Evidence," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 1(3), pages 182-197.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Robert Lucas; Karl Marx; Edward Gibbon Wakefield; emigration; settler colonization; South Australia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N47 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Africa; Oceania
    • N57 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Africa; Oceania
    • N97 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Africa; Oceania
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General
    • D44 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - Auctions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hai:wpaper:202023. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Web Technician (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deuhius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.