The flexibility of slave labour as an economic institution has often been assumed as a given. In general, some capital investment is necessary to retrain novice slaves but essentially they could be substituted for any other form of labour. This paper refutes the claim of the flexibility of slave...

The lack of secure property rights has been identified by a number of economists - past and present - as an obstacle for long-term growth of output of African farming. The foundation for such a claim is that insecure property rights hinder long-term capital investments. Although the observed...

This open access book offers a detailed study of the foundation and expansion of the Dutch Cape Colony to ask why certain regions in the global south became European settler societies from the 16th century onwards. Examining the different factors that led to the creation of the Cape Colony, Erik...

Chapter 1: On writing Africa’s economic history -- Chapter 2: Research on Africa’s history and development – a review -- Chapter 3: Back in history, 1000-1850 -- Chapter 4: Economic and political integration, 1850-1920 -- Chapter 5: Transformation and administration, 1920-1950 -- Chapter...