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GDP in the D utch C ape C olony: The National Accounts of a Slave‐Based Society
Author(s) -
Fourie Johan,
Zanden Jan Luiten
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
south african journal of economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.502
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1813-6982
pISSN - 0038-2280
DOI - 10.1111/saje.12010
Subject(s) - gross domestic product , economics , per capita , contrast (vision) , population , product (mathematics) , measures of national income and output , demographic economics , economy , demography , economic growth , sociology , market economy , mathematics , geometry , computer science , artificial intelligence
New estimates of the gross domestic product of the D utch C ape C olony (1652‐1795) suggest that the C ape was one of the most prosperous regions during the eighteenth century. This stands in sharp contrast to the perceived view that the C ape was an “economic and social backwater,” a slave economy with slow growth and little progress. Following a national accounts framework, we find that C ape settlers' per capita income is similar to the most prosperous countries of the time – H olland and E ngland. We trace the roots of this result, showing that it is partly explained by a highly skewed population structure and very low dependency ratio of slavery, and attempt to link the eighteenth‐century C ape C olony experience to twentieth‐century S outh A frican income levels.