The establishment and expansion of a settler economy: The Cape Colony 1657-1840
Economists has recently shown that past European settlement overseas can explain a substantial part of current income levels in the global south. Despite the importance given to the establishment of European societies overseas we know relatively little about the process itself due to lack of data. This is about to change. In a joint-project between Lund and Stellenbosch University the first ever existing intergenerational panel data set for a developing region – The Cape of Good Hope Panel is under construction. The panel consist of demographic, spatial and economic data for a complete settler population. The aim of this project is take advantage of this unique source to write a synthesis of the establishment and expansion of the Cape settler economy (1657-1840). The project will result in a book manuscript that will be submitted to Cambridge University Press. Much of the analysis made in the book will be based on the recent research that uses the Cape of Good Hope Panel and of which I am part in (e.g. Green 2014, Fourie and Green 2015, Cilliers and Green 2018, Green and Links 2017, Papaioannou, Green and Fourie 2018). For this book project I will improve the calculations to make them fit with the purpose of the book. I will also spend substantial time in the archives to go through the more qualitative oriented information in order to put the quantitative analysis in an accurate historical context and ensure that I make proper historical assumption when data is missing.
Final report
I received a sabbatical grant from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond in 2018. The grant enabled to spend 2019 as a visiting professor at the department of economics at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
I have collaborated with researchers at the department since 2013. In 2015 we received generous grants from Handelsbankens research foundation, Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg research foundation and South Africa national research foundation. The grant enabled us to begin the most comprehensive and detailed individual panel data base for the global south – the Cape of Good Hope Panel data base (CGHP). The CGHP contains of economic and demographic information and allow us and other researchers to study and entire settler population, their imported slaves and employed indigenous labourers for nearly two hundred years (1660-1840). Further, due to the nature of the data we are able to link individuals across generations. This allow us to conduct empirical bases analysis of long-term social and economic change of a settler colony – the Cape Colony – at a level of detail never done before. This in turn enable us to revise old truths and recent consensuses in the broader literature on settler colonialism and its legacies.
The aim of my visit was threefold. First, as we plan to have the first version of the database published by June 2020 we needed to discuss future research plans in detail. In Stellenbosch it was decided that we should extend the database to include even more variables. A major program application was submitted to Riksbanken in January including researchers from Sweden, South Africa, Holland and US. In addition, two more applications will be send to the Swedish research council (project grant and research environment grant) in March. The second aim was to finalise the work on a paper together with doctoral student Calumet Links at Stellenbosch University. The paper was published in 2019. During my stay I have also presented my ongoing research at the department of economics and department of history at Stellenbosch University as well at the International Studies Group at University of Free State.
The chief aim with the visit was, however, to work on a book manuscript that utilize the very rich recent and older empirical research on the Cape Colony. This includes research made by our own research team. While the book takes its point of departure in the Cape Colony the aim is to contribute to the larger body of scholarly work studying the rise and consequences of European settler colonialism. Differently from this scholarly work, I can take my point of departure in the rich historical sources that allow me to detect social and economic change on a micro-level. I use this to revise and contribute to recent research on the role of institutions, demography, markets and inequality for the expansion and legacy of settler colonies.
A first draft of the book was finished in September and the second draft was completed in December. I am currently working on a third draft with the aim of submitting it to Cambridge University Press in June 2020.
I have collaborated with researchers at the department since 2013. In 2015 we received generous grants from Handelsbankens research foundation, Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg research foundation and South Africa national research foundation. The grant enabled us to begin the most comprehensive and detailed individual panel data base for the global south – the Cape of Good Hope Panel data base (CGHP). The CGHP contains of economic and demographic information and allow us and other researchers to study and entire settler population, their imported slaves and employed indigenous labourers for nearly two hundred years (1660-1840). Further, due to the nature of the data we are able to link individuals across generations. This allow us to conduct empirical bases analysis of long-term social and economic change of a settler colony – the Cape Colony – at a level of detail never done before. This in turn enable us to revise old truths and recent consensuses in the broader literature on settler colonialism and its legacies.
The aim of my visit was threefold. First, as we plan to have the first version of the database published by June 2020 we needed to discuss future research plans in detail. In Stellenbosch it was decided that we should extend the database to include even more variables. A major program application was submitted to Riksbanken in January including researchers from Sweden, South Africa, Holland and US. In addition, two more applications will be send to the Swedish research council (project grant and research environment grant) in March. The second aim was to finalise the work on a paper together with doctoral student Calumet Links at Stellenbosch University. The paper was published in 2019. During my stay I have also presented my ongoing research at the department of economics and department of history at Stellenbosch University as well at the International Studies Group at University of Free State.
The chief aim with the visit was, however, to work on a book manuscript that utilize the very rich recent and older empirical research on the Cape Colony. This includes research made by our own research team. While the book takes its point of departure in the Cape Colony the aim is to contribute to the larger body of scholarly work studying the rise and consequences of European settler colonialism. Differently from this scholarly work, I can take my point of departure in the rich historical sources that allow me to detect social and economic change on a micro-level. I use this to revise and contribute to recent research on the role of institutions, demography, markets and inequality for the expansion and legacy of settler colonies.
A first draft of the book was finished in September and the second draft was completed in December. I am currently working on a third draft with the aim of submitting it to Cambridge University Press in June 2020.