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CentrePiece article

Slavery and Britain's industrial revolution


To what extent did the wealth derived from slavery contribute to Europe’s economic growth? Stephan Heblich, Stephen Redding and Hans-Joachim Voth find that slaveholding areas of Britain were less agricultural, closer to cotton mills, and had more property wealth. Not only did the slave trade affect the geography of economic development after 1750, it also accelerated the country's industrial revolution.


Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Hans-Joachim Voth

20 June 2023     Paper Number CEPCP655

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This CentrePiece article is published under the centre's Urban programme.

This publication comes under the following theme: Urbanisation in developing countries