Droughts,conflict, and the African slave trade |
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| Institution: | 1. Imperial College Business School, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom;2. Imperial College Business School, CEPR and IZA, United Kingdom;3. Ericsson Research, Färögatan 6, Stockholm SE-164 80, Sweden;1. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, United States;2. Department of Economics, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753, United States;1. Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 427 Lorch Street, Madison, WI 53706, USA;2. School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, 10 Huixin East Street, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029, China;3. National School of Development and China Center for Economic Research, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing 100871, China;1. Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego, and CIFAR, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States;2. School of Economics, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China;3. Research Institute of Economics and Management, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China;1. Central European University, Nádor u. 9, Budapest 1051, Hungary;2. Université de Cergy-Pontoise, 33 boulevard du Port,Cergy-Pontoise Cedex 95011, France |
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| Abstract: | Historians have frequently suggested that droughts helped facilitate the African slave trade. By introducing a previously unused dataset on 19th century rainfall levels in Africa, I provide the first empirical examination of this hypothesis. I find a strong negative relationship between rainfall shocks and the number of slaves exported from a given region. I also find that extreme temperature shocks in either direction increase slave exports. Building on the detailed qualitative work of Dias (1981), Miller (1982), and others, I provide quantitative evidence for interethnic group conflict and more localized forms of violence being likely mechanisms through which these additional slaves were acquired. These results contribute to our understanding of the underlying economic conditions of the African slave trade. |
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