Call for Application: An ERSA Research Workshop: Longitudinal Data in African History
The study of African economic history has reached a tipping point. With few exceptions, quantitative investigations into Africa’s economic past were limited to the study of aggregated macro-economic variables – production, taxation and exports – published in colonial reports and available in the archives of the colonizer. These contributions were – and are – certainly […]
Call for Application: Training Workshop for Graduate Students: South African Economic History
South African economic history is undergoing a mini-revolution. Assisted by the availability of large datasets and the use of the econometrician’s standard toolkit, economists have begun re-evaluating past hypotheses that had hereto been difficult to test. Moreover, the use of advanced econometrics has allowed more plausible investigations of complex causal relationships which can now only […]
Call for Papers: An ERSA Research Workshop: The fiscal history of Sub-Saharan Africa
The public finances of African governments in the colonial and post-independence periods have been the subject of substantial new research in recent years. Within the broader field of African economic history, the fiscal history of the continent has yielded insights into the capacity and aims of state institutions over time, as well as the economic […]
Measuring political and economic institutions in Ethiopia: c.1888 –2016
This paper presents the first ever set of indices of political and civil rights and land rights in Ethiopia spanning more than a century. We have extracted information from legal texts and historical records. Then we quantified legislative developments in an attempt to objectively measure de jure political and economic institutions over the existence of […]
Changes in the Liquidity Effect Over Time: Evidence from Four Monetary Policy Regimes
Monetary policy, post Bretton Woods, saw the emergence of the short-term interest rate as the primary policy instrument. However, in the wake of the financial crisis, balance sheets have, again, become part the monetary policy toolkit, now empowered to perform more than an automated role in policymaking. The present-day incarnation of balance sheet policy differs […]
7th Annual Meeting of the African Economic History Network: Innovation and the African Past
The African Economic History Network, in association with the Laboratory for the Economics Africa’s Past at Stellenbosch University, Harvard Univeristy’s Center for African Studies and Economic Research Southern Africa announces a Call for Papers. Papers on all aspects of African economic history are welcome, but preference will be given to those that pertain to the conference […]
Measurement and analysis of the evolution of institutions in Nigeria
“Institutions matter” has become a generally accepted premise in development economics. The growth and development problems in Nigeria are also common knowledge. To better understand these problems a proper characterization of institutions in Nigeria is essential. Conducting empirical test of the role of institutions in Nigeria’s growth and development can prove challenging due to lack of institutional data set […]
Path dependence and interdependence between institutions and development
Path dependence theory, within the institutions context, means that the path of institutions promulgated within a system historically determines the nature of institutions that will ensue within the same system in the present and in the future. The paper makes use of a newly constructed index of institutions quality, and addresses three related questions; the […]
Comovement between Africa and advanced economies, 1980-2011
This paper addresses that gap by analyzing business cycle comovement between Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and the G7 group of advanced economies using dynamic factor analysis covering the period 1980 to 2011 Given that SSA is so diverse, African countries are grouped together in different categories, namely, middle-income economies, low-income economies, fragile states, and oil exporters. […]
Recent Growth Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): What should Policy Makers in these countries be concerned with?
The recent decades have witnessed a series of global turbulence with significant impact on the economic performance worldwide. Unlike western economies which have been weighed down by weak economic activity, the recovery has remained strong in developing countries and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) with an average economic growth rate of 5.8 percent in 2012, […]
An analysis of the accuracy of South Africa’s inflation figures since 1922
This paper assesses the accuracy of South African inflation data since 1922, the earliest date from which comparable price level and inflation data is available for South Africa. Historic prices recorded for 1922, 1974 and 2006 are adjusted in accordance with the rate of increase in the consumer price index (i.e. the inflation rate) and […]
An ERSA Research Workshop: The fiscal history of Sub-Saharan Africa
The public finances of African governments in the colonial and post-independence periods have been the subject of substantial new research in recent years. Within the broader field of African economic history, the fiscal history of the continent has yielded insights into the capacity and aims of state institutions over time, as well as the economic […]
An ERSA Research Workshop: Longitudinal Data in African History
The study of African economic history has reached a tipping point. With few exceptions, quantitative investigations into Africa’s economic past were limited to the study of aggregated macro-economic variables – production, taxation and exports – published in colonial reports and available in the archives of the colonizer. These contributions were – and are – certainly […]
Training Workshop for Graduate Students: South African Economic History
South African economic history is undergoing a mini-revolution. Assisted by the availability of large datasets and the use of the econometrician’s standard toolkit, economists have begun re-evaluating past hypotheses that had hereto been difficult to test. Moreover, the use of advanced econometrics has allowed more plausible investigations of complex causal relationships which can now only […]
Climate, geography and African economic history
Africa’s ‘bad’ geographic and environmental features have long been posited as an explanation for Africa’s underdevelopment. Ruggedness, few navigable rivers, poor soil quality, and a high disease burden are still held as reasons for the lack of early population density, production and trade. And while the emphasis may have shifted to institutional explanations for Africa’s […]
The economics of apartheid
The Economics of Apartheid Apartheid remains a contentious issue. It’s political, social and economic causes remain open to debate; its consequences a popular vindication for the slow speed of convergence between white and black South Africans eighteen years after South Africa became a democracy. Economic Research Southern Africa (ERSA) would like to invite participants to […]
From chimera to prospect: South African sources of and constraints on long-term growth, 1970-2000
Policy Paper 01 The paper takes stock of South Africa’s past growth experience during the period 1970-2000. It discuses major factors of growth, including physical and human capital, and institutions, and draws conclusions about the constraints to long-run growth in the future. We highlight three main conclusions on physical capital and uncertainty, market distortions (especially […]
Colonial data and economic history research in South Africa
Colonial data and economic history research in South Africa – An ERSA Research Workshop, 2-4 November 2011, Kopanong, Johannesburg. More information in the workshop information PDF below.
Empirical Evidence on Firms and International Trade
One of the most exciting developments in the field of international trade in recent years has been the increased attention given to the heterogeneity of firms. Empirical evidence has demonstrated that only a minority of firms are involved with international trade, and that the firms that do trade are different in significant ways from other […]
Slavery and economic history research in South Africa – An ERSA Research Workshop
The fourth ERSA Economic History Workshop in November will focus on African colonial history with an emphasis on the issue of African slavery. It will also provide us with an opportunity to finalize details about papers for a possible publication on the incorporation of ‘new economic history’ and its techniques and questions to the Southern […]
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