Abstract
The African Commodity Trade Database (actd) aims to stimulate and deepen research on African and global economic history. The database provides export and import series at product level for more than two and a half centuries of African trade (1730–2010). This article introduces potential users to some of the major questions that can be explored with African commodity trade data, as well as the sources, structure and limitations of the dataset. The current version of the actd is downloadable from the data repository of the African Economic History Network (www.aehnetwork.org/data-research) and will be regularly updated with new data.
Highlights
Long-term patterns of international trade between states and world regions form the core of historical processes of economic globalization and de-globalization, and constitute one of the major themes in economic history (Wallerstein 1974, O’Rourke & Williamson 1999, Williamson 2011)
African commodity trade has not been recorded in similar detail as in most other regions of the world
The documentation that has survived tends to be biased because most of it has been compiled by foreigners, such as European merchants or colonial tax officials, and often in entry/exit ports of Europe and the Americas, instead of Africa
Summary
Long-term patterns of international trade between states and world regions form the core of historical processes of economic globalization and de-globalization, and constitute one of the major themes in economic history (Wallerstein 1974, O’Rourke & Williamson 1999, Williamson 2011). Dalrymple-Smith and Woltjer (2016) have shown that the volume and value of African commodities bought by British traders grew substantially faster than previously estimated (see figure 1) and that the growth of the ‘legitimate’ commerce even outpaced the growth of the slave trade during the second half of the 18th century They found that the regional production of exports such as gold, gum, ivory and palm oil changed over time. With complementary data on labour, land and capital supplies, as well as import and export tariffs and internal transportation costs (which are not in the dataset, but are in the process of being assembled for specific regions in Africa), larger questions can be addressed: were African economies hampered by perverse specialization because of adverse (colonial) institutions, or by factor proportions dictating long-term specialization in land-intensive and labour-extensive primary commodities? In the growing literature on (colonial) African fiscal history, the opportunities and constraints to the collection of custom duties and related trade taxes are a key factor (Frankema 2011, Gardner 2012, Frankema and van Waijenburg 2014), and for the construction of national income estimates international trade data are crucial as well (Prados de la Escosura 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
