Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/180280 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 7018
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
Columbus’s arrival in the New World triggered an unprecedented movement of people and crops across the Atlantic Ocean. We study an overlooked part of this Columbian Exchange: the effects of New World crops in Africa. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that the introduction of maize increased population density and Trans-Atlantic slave exports in precolonial Africa. We find robust empirical support for these predictions. We also find little evidence to suggest maize increased economic growth or reduced conflict. Our results suggest that rather than stimulating development, the introduction of maize simply increased the supply of slaves during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Subjects: 
Africa
Columbian exchange
maize
slave trades
JEL: 
N57
O13
Q10
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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