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

The article proposes a gravity-inspired import demand function for British products. It also develops an index that permits the net effect of Great Britain's imperial advantages in six major export markets to be compared between 1870 and 1960. The proposed measure focuses on the share of the market'...

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Published in:Journal of Interdisciplinary History Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 341 - 370
Main Author: Gary B. Magee
Format: Article
Published: MIT Press Winter2007
Subjects:
Imports
International trade
International economic relations
Commerce
United Kingdom
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:The article proposes a gravity-inspired import demand function for British products. It also develops an index that permits the net effect of Great Britain's imperial advantages in six major export markets to be compared between 1870 and 1960. The proposed measure focuses on the share of the market's income devoted to the purchase of British goods relative to the proportion spent in markets. This index is also called the index of relative advantage.