Volha Charnysh, MIT

"Consequences of the Black Sea Slave Trade: Long-Run Development in Eastern Europe" 

Abstract:

We study the consequences of slave-raiding in Eastern Europe, the largest source of commercial slaves in the early modern world after West Africa. Drawing on a wide-ranging new dataset, we estimate that at least 5 million people were enslaved from more than 730 locations in the Black Sea region between the 15th and 18th centuries.  Pursuing a difference-in-differences and instrumental variables strategies, we find that raids accelerated urban population growth and led to superior developmental outcomes in the long run. These results reflect an economically advantageous process of defensive state-building that resulted from the threat of raids. Consistent with this mechanism, exposure to raids predicts higher density of fortifications and greater administrative, military, and fiscal capacity. Our findings caution against generalizing conclusions about slavery's consequences from the African context, suggesting that the structure of slave production plays a key role in conditioning such effects.

Co-author: Ranjit Lall, University of Oxford

For more information about Volha Charnysh and her interesting work - link to her website.

Contact person: Jeanet Sinding Bentzen