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The Importance of Being British? Imperial Factors and the Growth of British Exports, 1870-1960

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  • Gary B. Magee

Abstract

Between 1870 and the 1950s British exports to the Empire and Commonwealth steadily grew in terms of volume and as a proportion of all exports. To many this reflected the non-market advantages Britain enjoyed there, advantages allegedly rooted in imperial rule and the inherent Britishness of these markets. This paper tests this claim. Using quantitative methods, it gauges the net effect of such factors and shows that the growth of British exports to the Empire was not simply, or even predominately, due to imperial advantages. In most periods, other factors, most notably the economic growth of the importing markets, were of much greater importance.

Suggested Citation

  • Gary B. Magee, 2004. "The Importance of Being British? Imperial Factors and the Growth of British Exports, 1870-1960," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 923, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:mlb:wpaper:923
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    File URL: http://www.economics.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/wpapers-04/923.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Andrew Dilley, 2013. "The Politics of Commerce," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, November.
    2. Magee, Gary & Ishaq Bhatti, M. & Li, Alice Shuaishuai, 2015. "The economic modeling of migration and consumption patterns in the English-speaking world," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 322-330.
    3. Andrew Dilley, 2013. "The politics of Imperial commerce: The Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, 1886-1914," Working Papers 13008, Economic History Society.

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