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Imachi Nkwu: Trade and the Commons

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2014

James Fenske
James Fenske*
Affiliation:
University Lecturer in Economic History, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, Manor Road Building, Oxford, OX1 3UQ, United Kingdom. E-mail: james.fenske@economics.ox.ac.uk.
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Abstract

The conventional view is that an increase in the value of a natural resource can lead to private property over it. Many Igbo groups in Nigeria, however, curtailed private rights over palm trees in response to the palm produce trade of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I use the Ostrom (2007, 2009) framework for analyzing social-ecological systems to guide the construction of a model of this transition. An increase in the resource price leads the owner to prefer communal harvesting, which simplifies monitoring against theft. I support this framework with evidence from colonial court records. “Palm cutting always cause palaver.”

Obuba of Ububa, Nkwo Udara Civil Suit 111/37

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Articles
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The Journal of Economic History , Volume 74 , Issue 1 , March 2014 , pp. 39 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2014 

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Footnotes

This article was previously titled, “Imachi Nkwu: How Commercialization of Natural Resources Can Create Common Property.” I would like to thank my advisors Timothy Guinnane, Benjamin Polak, and Christopher Udry for their guidance. Thank you as well to Achyuta Adhvaryu, Prashant Bharadwaj, Hoyt Bleakley, Jean-Paul Carvalho, Rahul Deb, Avner Greif, Carol Heim, Frank Lewis, Deirdre McCloskey, Marjorie McIntosh, Florian Ploeckl, Maher Said, Veronica Santarosa, and the participants of the Yale Graduate Student Workshop, the NEUDC, the University of Massachusetts Economic History and Development Workshop, the SITE summer workshop, and the World Economic History Congress for their comments and advice. Thanks are also due to Robert Allen for generously sharing data. Archival research for this project was made possible with support from the MacMillan Center at Yale University, the Gilder Lehrman Center, and the Georg Walter Leitner Program. I would also like to thank Anayo Enechukwu, Joseph Ayodokun (victoria005@yahoo.co.uk, www.nigeriaresearch.com), and the staff of the National Archives, Enugu, for helping with the logistics of my research.

References

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