The sustainability of empire in a global perspective: the role of international trade patterns

Bonfatti, Roberto

Abstract

I construct a model in which a colony trades raw materials for manufactures with the mother country and the rest of the world, and can rebel at the cost of some trade disruption with the mother country. Decolonisation is more likely when the rest of the world is more abundant in manufactures, or scarcer in raw materials: this is because trade policy in the rest of the world is more favourable to a rebel colony, while trade policy within the empire is more restrictive. I use my results to explain the timing of the American Revolution, and the Latin American Revolutionary Wars. I discuss some important implications for the history of colonialism.

Citation

Bonfatti, R. (2017). The sustainability of empire in a global perspective: the role of international trade patterns. Journal of International Economics, 108, 137-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.06.002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 5, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 21, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2018
• Journal: Journal of International Economics
• Print ISSN: 0022-1996
• Electronic ISSN: 0022-1996
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 108
• Pages: 137-156
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2017.06.002
• Keywords: Colonial trade, rise and fall of empires, economic legacy of colonialism
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/966591
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199617300685