873 research outputs found
Brazilian export growth and divergence in the tropics during the nineteenth century
The objective of this paper is to reappraise both the accuracy of the official export statistics and the conventional narrative of Brazilian export growth during the period immediately following independence. We undertake an accuracy test of the official values of Brazilian export statistics and find evidence of considerable under-valuation. Once corrected, during the postindependence decades (1821-1849) Brazil's current exports represented a larger share of its economy and its constant growth is found to be more dynamic than any other period of the nineteenth century. We posit that this dynamism was related to an exogenous institutional shock in the form of British West Indies slave emancipation that afforded Brazil a competitive advantage
Brazilian export growth and divergence in the tropics during the nineteenth century
The objective of this article is to reappraise both the accuracy of the official export statistics and the narrative of Brazilian export growth during the period immediately following independence. We undertake an accuracy test of the official values of Brazilian export statistics and find evidence of considerable under-valuation. Once corrected, during the post-independence decades (1821–50) Brazil's current exports represented a larger share of its economy and its constant growth is found to be more dynamic than any other period of the nineteenth century. We posit that this dynamism was related to an exogenous institutional shock in the form of British West Indies slave emancipation that afforded Brazil a competitive advantage.El objetivo de este artículo es reconsiderar tanto la exactitud de las estadísticas oficiales de exportación y la narrativa del crecimiento de exportaciones de Brasil durante el período inmediatamente posterior a la independencia. Aquí se realiza un examen sobre la exactitud de los valores oficiales de las estadísticas sobre la exportaciones brasileñas y encontramos evidencias de una subvaloración considerable. Una vez corregidas, durante las décadas post independentistas (1821–1850), las exportaciones de Brasil representan una parte mayor de su economía y demostramos que su constante crecimiento resultó ser más dinámico que en cualquier otro periodo de ese siglo. Sostenemos que dicho dinamismo se relacionó con un choque institucional externo en la forma de la emancipación de esclavos de las colonias británicas en el Caribe que dio a Brasil una ventaja competitiva.O objetivo deste artigo é reavaliar tanto a precisão das estatísticas oficiais relacionadas às exportações quanto as narrativas sobre o crescimento das exportações brasileiras no período logo após a independência. Realizamos um teste de precisão dos valores das estatísticas oficiais de exportações brasileiras e encontramos evidências de uma considerável subvalorizarão. Uma vez feitas as correções, durante as décadas pós-independência (1821–1850) as exportações brasileiras representaram uma parcela maior da economia do país e o crescimento constante das exportações demonstra ter sido mais dinâmico que em qualquer outro período do século XIX. Postulamos que este dinamismo estava relacionado ao choque institucional exógeno representado pela abolição da escravidão nas Índias Ocidentais britânicas que garantiram uma vantagem competitiva ao Brasil.Antonio Tena-Junguito acknowledges financial support from MCI:ECO2011-25713
and both authors from MCI:ECO2015-0020
American divergence : lost decades and Emancipation collapse in Latin American and the Caribbean 1820-1870
The period 1820-1870, commonly referred to as the 'lost decades', is widely regarded as the key moment in the opening of the gap between Latin America and the Unites States. We test this statement with a new export series and some tentative estimates of GDP trends. The overall performance of Latin American countries was quite good, although not outstanding. Mexico was hit by a foreign policy crisis, but the only real losers were the British and French colonies in the Caribbean. The emancipation of slaves caused a collapse in their exports, favoring other tropical countries, including Cuba and Brazil. Further South, independent countries such as Argentine and Chile increased their share of world trade. Overall, most of the divergence during the period 1820-1870 in the Americas was between tropical countries rather than between Latin America and North America.Funded by European Research Council Advanced Research. Grant Number: n.230484, years 2009–13 and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Grant Number: ECO2011-25713 and ECO2014-58784-P
The rise of coffee in the Brazilian south-east: tariffs and foreign market potential, 1827-40
During the period spanning independence in 1822 to mid-century, Brazil’s south-east
shifted from specializing in the export of cane sugar to coffee. This article explores the
mechanism underlying this shift by exploiting a wealth of new monthly data on the
Brazilian and international coffee and cane sugar markets during the period 1827–
40. It argues that the timing of the coffee boom was driven by a rapid increase in
foreign market potential associated with the abolition of the tariff on coffee in the US.
It estimates that American tariff reform served to increase coffee exports and African
slave imports by around one-fifth. American firms, wi th in direct li nks to th e slave
trade, rapidly became major players in the export market in Rio de Janeiro, while
non-American firms, t raditionally s pecialized in c ontinental European destinations,
turned their sights on the American market
The Bittersweet Century: Slavery, tariffs and Brazilian export growth during the nineteenth century
This dissertation revises the veracity of the official statistics and conventional narrative
of Brazil’s export performance during the nineteenth century. An accuracy test reveals
that the official export series is undervalued. When corrected using international prices,
post-independence (1822-1850) export growth is found to be the most dynamic of the
century. This dynamism was driven by the rapid growth of coffee exports in the southeast
and the revival of sugar exports in the northeast. The first part of the dissertation posits
that Brazil’s dynamic post-independence export performance was associated with
exogenous institutional change that improved Brazilian competitiveness in international
markets, specifically British West Indies slave emancipation. The second part of the
dissertation tests the emancipation hypothesis. Results indicate that, for the case of sugar,
British slave emancipation served to increase the demand for Brazilian sugar in the British
market. Increased demand was due to two British policy interventions. Initially, the
premature end to the system of apprenticeship in the West Indies in 1838 corresponded
with increased imports of Brazilian sugar, much of it destined to the British re-export
market. The reduction of duties on non-colonial sugar in 1846, together with declining
supplies from the British West Indies, led to rapidly increasing quantities of Brazilian
sugar retained for consumption. I estimate that the British policy interventions contributed
to an increase in Brazil’s market share of five per cent. Given the size of the British sugar
market, however, this corresponded to around 15 to 28 per cent of the volume of Brazil’s
exports. A comparison with other markets indicates that these trends were largely
confined to the British sugar market. For the case of coffee, the determinant of the rapid
growth of coffee exports is found to be the reduction and abolition in 1832 of the tariff
on coffee in the United States. The consequent fall in the duty-paid price led to a rapid
increase in consumption and the expansion of the potential of the American coffee
market. In less than a decade, the United States became the principal consumer of coffee
exports from Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil became the leading supplier of coffee to the
American market. I estimate that the reduction and abolition of the American tariff on
coffee is associated with an increase of around one-third in the volume of coffee exports
from the port of Rio de Janeiro. Given that the cultivation of coffee was dependent on the
exploitation of African slave labour, I also find that the reduction and abolition of the
tariff corresponded to an increase of one-quarter in the number of African slaves imported
to the southeast during the 1830s. Overall, the results of this dissertation represent an
important re-interpretation of the determinants of Brazilian export growth during the postindependence
period.Programa de Doctorado en Historia Económica por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid y la Universidad de BarcelonaPresidente: Herbert S. Klein; Secretario: James Simpson; Vocal: William R. Summerhil
Foreign Capital in Latin America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
This paper examines the history of foreign investment in Latin America in the two centuries since independence. Investment flows to the region were sometimes large and always volatile. Symptoms of overborrowing, sudden stops, debt, default and crises have been evident from the beginning. In general the economies in the hemisphere struggled for most of the nineteenth century to develop reputations for macroeconomic stability and sound finance, and foreign capital was thus repelled for the long periods. In the twentieth century, most of the region, like the rest of the world, turned inward and against foreign capital markets, a policy trend that emerged in the interwar period and has only recently begun to reverse. These historical perspectives shed light on the region's current relative isolation and its future economic challenges.
The Reconstruction of Brazil's Foreign Trade Series, 1821-1913
To date, research on the economic history of Brazil during the nineteenth century has relied on official foreign trade statistics, the accuracy of which has repeatedly been put into question. This paper provides insights into the accuracy of the official series by examining the accuracy of the export and import series for Brazil during the nineteenth century. We re-estimate the official import series using trading partner sources, and find that the official series was marginally under-valued during certain periods of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, we provide new upper- and lower-bound estimates of the export series by testing different assumptions regarding the size of the cif-fob factor adjustments. Finally, we introduce a new import price index for the period 1827-1913
Exports and American divergence. Lost decades and Emancipation collapse in Latin American and the Caribbean 1820-1870
The period 1820-1870, or 'lost decades', is widely regarded as the key moment in the opening of gap between Latin America and the United States. We test this statement with a new set of export series. We show that the performance of Latin American countries was quite good, although not outstanding. Mexico was hit by foreign policy crisis, but the only real basket case have been the British and French colonies in the Caribbean. The emancipation of slaves caused a collapse in their exports, favoring other tropical countries, including Cuba and Brazil. Further South, independent countries such as Argentine and Chile increased their share of world trade. In a nutshell, most of the divergence in the 1820-1870 in the Americas was between tropical countries rather than between Latin America and North America
Lewis revisited : tropical polities competing on the world market 1830-1938
Since the seminal work by W.A. Lewis, exports of primary products have been deemed the main or sole source of growth in tropical countries before the Great Depression. This conventional wisdom, however, relies on very limited evidence. This paper analyses the growth of exports with a constant market share analysis for 84 tropical polities. Exports grew a lot, but less than total trade, while relative prices of tropical products remained roughly constant. We thus tentatively infer that the decline in the tropical shares on world trade reflects an insufficient demand for tropical products. Asia mastered well these headwinds throughout the whole period, while African polities blossomed after World War One. The loser was (South) America, and most notably the Caribbean former slave colonies especially before 1870
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