Economic Forms in Pre-Colonial Ghana

Bibliographic Data

ID10102140
AuthorsStephen Hymer (Yale University, corresponding author), Stephen H Hymer
Year1970
Volume30
Issue1
Pages33-50
Publication date1970-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Economic History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0507 • E-ISSN: 1471-6372
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022050700078578
OpenAlexW2149083547
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited14

This paper uses a simple physiocratic model to examine forms of economic organization prevailing in Ghana before it was incorporated into the British Empire at the end of the nineteenth century. It is divided into three parts. The first analyzes the village subsistence economy and suggests that the egalitarian nature of the land-tenure system prevented the emergence of a land-owning class and the appropriation of an economic surplus. This led to an economic structure characterized by a low level of material production and a low degree of specialization and exchange. The second part analyzes forms of economic organization associated with long distance trade: that is, the very old northern trade with other parts of Africa, and the southern coastal trade with Europe which began in the fifteenth century. It argues that foreign trade not only expanded the consumption possibilities of the society, as predicted by the theory of international trade, but also introduced a new class structure and greater income inequality, since it allowed a small group to appropriate a surplus for its own use. The third part discusses the relevance of Pre-Colonial forms to twentieth century economic development

Agriculture · Appropriation · Colonialism · Consumption (sociology · Economics · Economy · Empire · Fifteenth · Geography · International trade · Sociology · Subsistence agriculture · African history and culture studies · Economic Theory and Policy · History · Political Economy and Marxism

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