Overview
- Revisits the key debate on the nature of European economic imperialism in Africa
- Establishes whether imperial investments by Britain in sub-Saharan Africa offered profitable returns as has been argued by the dependency school of thought
- Offers a much-needed, well-informed account on African economic history and its relationship to global capitalism
- Provides a continent wide analysis of the returns on investments in colonies from 1870 to 1970
Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History (PEHS)
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About this book
This book engages in the long-standing debate on the relationship between capitalism and colonialism. Specifically, Rönnbäck and Broberg study the interaction between imperialist policies, colonial institutions and financial markets. Their primary method of analysis is examining micro- and macro-level data relating to a large sample of ventures operating in Africa and traded on the London Stock Exchange between 1869 and 1969. Their study shows that the relationship between capital and colonialism was highly complex. While return from investing in African colonies on average was not extraordinary, there were certainly many occasions when investors enjoyed high return due to various forms of exploitation. While there were actors with rational calculations and deliberate strategies, there was also an important element of chance in determining the return on investment – not least in the mining sector, which overall was the most important business for investment in African ventures during this period. This book finally also demonstrates that the different paths of decolonization in Africa had very diverse effects for investors.
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Keywords
- British Imperialism
- Education Economics
- European Investment
- Industrial Production
- Plantations
- Labour Regimes
- Liberal Economic Theory
- Foreign Direct Investment
- Global Mining Industry
- African Entrepreneurship
- The City of London
- Global Financial History
- Capital Exports
- London Stock Exchange
- The Suez Canal Company
- The British South Africa Company
- Macro-oriented Financial History
- Settler Colonisation
- Non-settler Colonisiation
- Financial Decolonization
Table of contents (15 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Part II
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Front Matter
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Part III
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Front Matter
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Authors and Affiliations
About the authors
Klas Rönnbäck is Professor in Economic History at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Oskar Broberg is Associate Professor in Economic History at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Capital and Colonialism
Book Subtitle: The Return on British Investments in Africa 1869–1969
Authors: Klas Rönnbäck, Oskar Broberg
Series Title: Palgrave Studies in Economic History
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-19711-7
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Economics and Finance, Economics and Finance (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19710-0Published: 30 July 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-19713-1Published: 14 August 2020
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-19711-7Published: 11 July 2019
Series ISSN: 2662-6497
Series E-ISSN: 2662-6500
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XVI, 402
Number of Illustrations: 35 b/w illustrations, 7 illustrations in colour
Topics: Economic History, Imperialism and Colonialism, African Economics, Industrial Organization, Development Economics, Labor Economics