Shipping, Maritime Trade, and the Economic Development of Colonial North America

Originally published in 1972, this study is of the North American colonial economy from the middle of the seventeenth century to the American Revolution, with emphasis on the later years. The authors use quantitative analysis to prove that productivity was increasing not so much because of technological change, but rather because of improvements in market organization and reduced risks of business enterprise within markets. In the first part of the book the authors present a theoretical framework for examining the general aspects of long-term economic development in the colonies. In the second part they discuss shipping and overseas trade in detail. They examine costs of shipping and distribution; sources of productivity change; commodity trade with overseas markets; and finally a number of other influences on the colonial balance of frameworks. Several statistical appendices supporting the authors' argument follow the text.