The Economic History Review

A West African experiment: constructing a GDP series for colonial Ghana, 1891–1950

Volume 67 Issue 4
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Pages: 964-992Authors: Morten Jerven
Published online: June 13, 2014DOI: 10.1111/1468-0289.12066

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There has been a recent surge in research on long-term African development. For this research agenda to be fruitful and its theories tested, it is crucial to have consistent estimates of economic change. However, there is a lack of reliable time series data for the colonial period in Sub-Saharan Africa. This article contributes new time series data for the Gold Coast and Ghana between 1890 and 2010 and in particular a new GDP time series for Ghana for the years 1891-1957. The series implies a sustained period of economic expansion from the late nineteenth century. This suggests a revision of some prevalent truths about the history of economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, and points the way forward for expanding the database to cover the colonial period for other African economies.

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