QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC HISTORY (QUCEH) SEMINAR 

Friday 4^th October

1pm

“Collateral damage: The financial economics of slavery”

Abstract

This paper aims to understand an underexposed aspect of slavery: the financial economics behind it. Did the availability of finance, and the use of enslaved people as collateral, stimulate the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the use of slave labor on plantations? Did financial shocks have long-term consequences for the mortality and health of enslaved people? We study these questions in the context of Surinam in the 18th century using newly collected databases on plantations and enslaved people.

Professor Peter Koudijs

University of Amsterdam

About the speaker:

Peter Koudijs is Professor of Finance and Director of Henry Kaufman Initiative in Financial History at New York University's Stern School of Business. He joined NYU from Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he was Professor of Finance and History until August 2024.

URL: https://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/peter-koudijs

Please contact Chris Colvin (chris.colvin@qub.ac.uk) if you wish to schedule a meeting with Peter on Friday morning, prior to the seminar.

QBS Conference Hub, Seminar Room 01.012