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An African Diamond in the Rough

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Book cover Botswana – A Modern Economic History

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History ((PEHS))

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Abstract

Botswana has received much attention for the outstanding way it has managed its diamond resources while achieving economic growth and political maturity. In this chapter Hillbom and Bolt briefly present Botswana’s success story while also identifying two main challenges for future inclusive sustainable economic development—the lack of alternative high-productive sectors and high levels of inequality. The authors commit to providing a long-term, comprehensive examination of Botswana’s economic history from 1850 onwards, tracing the roots of both the growth miracle and the development challenges. They describe their three cross-cutting analytical approaches—the decompressing of history, the interplay between geographic preconditions and institutional setup, and the role of the state—and how they contribute to the analysis. Finally, they present the structure of the book.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Throughout this book we have made use of income estimates expressed in 2011 PPP-converted US dollars. These estimates correct for price difference between countries. This enables a comparison across countries and over time, without the estimates being distorted by changes in relative prices.

  2. 2.

    Difaqane, a period of unrest in Southern Africa during the first half of the nineteenth century (see Chap. 2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Lund, Lund, Sweden

    Ellen Hillbom

  2. Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Jutta Bolt

  3. University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Jutta Bolt

Authors
  1. Ellen Hillbom
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  2. Jutta Bolt
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Hillbom, E., Bolt, J. (2018). An African Diamond in the Rough. In: Botswana – A Modern Economic History. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73144-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73144-5_1

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