Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-rj9fg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-14T00:49:51.601Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diamonds or development? A structural assessment of Botswana's forty years of success

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2008

Ellen Hillbom
Ellen Hillbom*
Affiliation:
Department of Economic History, Lund University, P.O. Box 7083, S-220 07 Lund, Sweden
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Due to its four decades of high long-term economic growth and democratic system, Botswana has been depicted as an exceptional success story in a region full of economic and political failures. In this article, a structural analysis is applied, and it is argued that Botswana's success should be understood as one of pre-modern growth without development. It is claimed that although the country may be a growth miracle, it has not yet experienced ‘modern economic growth’, characterised by structural change in patterns of production as well as in social and political institutions. Such analysis also offers an explanation for the duality of Botswana's economy and society, since pre-modern growth, as opposed to development, allows for significant poverty rates and extremely unequal resource and income distribution to prevail in the midst of plenty.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , June 2008 , pp. 191 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. & Robinson, J.. 2003. ‘An African success story: Botswana’, in Rodrik, D. ed. In Search of Prosperity: analytic narratives on economic growth. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 80–119.Google Scholar
Adelman, I. 2003. ‘Global institutions and economic development – what have we learned?’, in Andersson, M. & Gunnarsson, C. eds. Development and Structural Change in Asia-Pacific: globalising miracles or end of a model? London: Routledge, 17–47.Google Scholar
Adelman, I. & Morris, C. T.. 1997. ‘Editorial: development history and its implications for development theory’, World Development 25, 6: 831–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Allen, T. & Heald, S.. 2004. ‘HIV/AIDS policy in Africa: what has worked in Uganda and what has failed in Botswana?’, Journal of International Development 16: 1141–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beaulier, S. & Subrick, R.. 2006. ‘The political foundations of development: the case of Botswana’, Constitutional Political Economy 17, 2: 103–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berry, S. 1994. No Condition is Permanent: the social dynamics of agrarian change in sub-Saharan Africa. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Bourguignon, F. & Morrisson, C.. 1990. ‘Income distribution, development and foreign trade: a cross-sectional analysis’, European Economic Review 34, 6: 1113–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlsson, E. 2003. To Have and to Hold: continuity and change in property rights institutions governing water resources among the Meru of Tanzania and the BaKgtala in Botswana, 1925–2000. Lund Studies in Economic History, 28. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International.Google Scholar
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 2006. The World Factbook: Botswana. <https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bc.html> accessed 15.12.2006.+accessed+15.12.2006.>Google Scholar
Colcough, C. & McCarthy, S.. 1980. The Political Economy of Botswana: a study of growth and distribution. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Corden, W. & Neary, J.. 1982. ‘Booming sector and de-industrialisation in a small open economy’, Economic Journal 92: 825–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curry, R. L. Jr. 1987. ‘Poverty and mass unemployment in mineral-rich Botswana’, American Journal of Economics and Sociology 46, 1: 71–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Engerman, S. & Sokoloff, K.. 2002. ‘Factor endowments, inequality, and paths of development among New World economies’, Economia 3, 1: 41–108.Google Scholar
Ensminger, J. 1997. ‘Changing property rights: reconciling formal and informal rights to land in Africa’, in Drobak, J. & Nye, J. eds. The Frontiers of the New Institutional Economics. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gaolathe, B. 1997. ‘Development of Botswana's mineral sector’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 401–31.Google Scholar
Gerschenkron, A. 1962. ‘Economic backwardness in historical perspective’, in Gerschenkron, A. ed. Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 5–30.Google Scholar
Good, K. 1993. ‘At the ends of the ladder: radical inequalities in Botswana’, Journal of Modern African Studies 31, 2: 203–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Good, K. 1994. ‘Corruption and mismanagement in Botswana: a best case example?’, Journal of Modern African Studies 32, 3: 499–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gulbrandsen, O. 1984. ‘When land becomes scarce’, Bergen Studies in Social Anthropology 33. Bergen: Norse Publications.Google Scholar
Gulbrandsen, O. 1996. ‘Poverty in the midst of plenty’, Bergen Studies in Social Anthropology 45. Bergen: Norse Publications.Google Scholar
Harvey, C. & Lewis, S. R. Jr. 1990. Policy Choice and Development Performance in Botswana. London: Macmillan in association with the OECD Development Centre.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heald, S. 2006. ‘Abstain or die: the development of HIV/AIDS policy in Botswana’, Journal of Biosocial Science 38, 1: 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hill, C. 1991. ‘Managing commodity booms in Botswana’, World Development 19, 9: 1185–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschman, A. 1958. The Strategy of Economic Development. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Iimi, A. 2006. ‘Did Botswana escape from the resource curse?’, IMF Working Paper 06/138, Washington, DC: IMF.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jefferis, K. 1997. ‘Poverty in Botswana’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 469–99.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, D. & Kraay, A.. 2002. ‘Growth without governance’, Economica 3, 1: 169–229.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. 1955. ‘Economic growth and income inequality’, American Economic Review 65, 1: 1–28.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. 1973. ‘Modern economic growth: findings and reflections’, American Economic Review 63, 3: 247–58.Google Scholar
Lawry, S. 1983. ‘Land tenure, land policy, and small livestock in Botswana’, Research paper No. 78, Land Tenure Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.Google Scholar
Leite, C. & Weidmann, J.. 1999. ‘Does Mother Nature corrupt? Natural resources, corruption, and economic growth’, IMF Working Paper 99/85, Washington, DC: IMF.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leith, C. 1997a. ‘Growth and structural transformation in Botswana’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 21–35.Google Scholar
Leith, C. 1997b. ‘Botswana's International Trade Policies’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 529–48.Google Scholar
Leith, C. 2005. Why Botswana Prospered. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lekoko, R. N. & van der Merwe, M.. 2006. ‘Beyond the rhetoric of empowerment: speak the language, live the experience of the rural poor’, Review of Education 52: 323–32.Google Scholar
Lewis, A. 1954. ‘Economic development with unlimited supply of labour’, The Manchester School 2, 2: 139–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, A. 1979. ‘Dual economy revisited’, The Manchester School, 47, 3: 221–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lipton, M. 1968. ‘Theory on the optimising peasant’, Journal of Development Studies 4, 3: 327–51.Google Scholar
Lipton, M. 1977. Why Poor People Stay Poor: a study of urban bias in world development. London: Maurice Temple Smith.Google Scholar
Makgala, C. J. 2006. Elite Conflict in Botswana: a history. Pretoria: African Institute of South Africa.Google Scholar
Mellor, J. 1986. ‘Agriculture on the road to industrialisation’, in Lewis, J. P. & Kallab, V. eds. Development Strategies Reconsidered. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books, for The Overseas Development Council, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Mpabanga, D. 1997. ‘Constraints to industrial development’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 369–87.Google Scholar
Nthomang, K. 2004. ‘Relentless colonialism: the case of the Remote Area Development Programme (RADP) and the Basarwa in Botswana’, Journal of Modern African Studies 42, 3: 425–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owusu, F. & Samatar, A. I.. 1997. ‘Industrial strategy and the African state: the Botswana experience’, Canadian Journal of African Studies 31, 2: 268–99.Google Scholar
Parson, J. 1984. Botswana: liberal democracy and labor reserve in Southern Africa. Boulder, CO: Westview.Google Scholar
Parsons, N. & Crowder, M., eds. 1988. Monarch of All I Survey: Bechuanaland Diaries 1929–37. Gaborone: The Botswana Society.Google Scholar
Perrings, C. 1992. ‘Sustainable development of the human and natural resources of sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Botswana’, report prepared for the Technology and Employment Branch, International Labour Office, Riverside.Google Scholar
Peters, P. 1994. Dividing the Commons: politics, policy, and culture in Botswana. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia.Google Scholar
Phaladze, N. & Tlou, S.. 2006. ‘Gender and HIV/AIDS in Botswana: a focus on inequalities and discrimination’, Gender and Development 14, 1: 23–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Quibria, M. G. 2002. ‘Growth and poverty: lessons from the East Asian miracle revisited’, ADB Institute Research Paper Series, No. 33, Asian Development Bank, ADB Institute, Tokyo.Google Scholar
Rahm, D., Swatuk, L. & Matheny, E.. 2006. ‘Water resource management in Botswana: balancing sustainability and economic development’, Environment, Development, and Sustainability 8: 157–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Republic of Botswana (RoB). 2003. National Development Plan 9. Gaborone: Ministry of Finance & Development Planning.Google Scholar
RoB. 2004a. Labour Statistics 2002. Gaborone: Government Printer.Google Scholar
RoB. 2004b. 2002/03 Household Income and Expenditure Survey: Botswana. Gaborone: Central Statistics Office. <http://www.cso.gov.bw/> accessed 28.09.2007.+accessed+28.09.2007.>Google Scholar
RoB. 2006. Preliminary 2005/2006 Labour Force Survey Results. Gaborone: Central Statistics Office, <http://www.cso.gov.bw/> accessed 25.9.2007.+accessed+25.9.2007.>Google Scholar
RoB. 2007. ‘Table 3A: Export by Principal Commodities’, in Trade Statistics. Gaborone: Central Statistics Office, <http://www.cso.gov.bw/> accessed 28.9.2007.+accessed+28.9.2007.>Google Scholar
Robinson, J. A. & Parsons, N.. 2006. ‘State formation and governance in Botswana’, Journal of African Economies 15 (AERC Supplement 1): 100–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachs, J. & Warner, A.. 1995. ‘Natural resource abundance and economic growth’, Development Discussion Paper No. 517a, Harvard Institute for International Development, Harvard University.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sachs, J. & Warner, A. 1999. ‘The big push, natural resource booms and growth’, Journal of Development Economics 59: 43–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salkin, J. S., Mpabanga, D., Cowan, D., Selwe, J. & Wright, M. eds. 1997. Aspects of the Botswana Economy. Gaborone: Lentswe La Lesedi.Google Scholar
Samatar, A. I. 1999. An African Miracle: state and class leadership and colonial legacy in Botswana development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Schapera, I & Comaroff, J.. 1991. The Tswana. London: Kegan Paul International, revised edition.Google Scholar
Sen, A. 1999. Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Silitshena, R. M. K. & McLeod, G.. 1998. Botswana: a physical, social and economic geography. Gaborone: Longman Botswana, 2nd edition.Google Scholar
Siphambe, H. K. 2003. ‘Understanding unemployment in Botswana’, South African Journal of Economics 71, 3: 480–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siwawa-Ndai, P. 1997. ‘Industrialisation in Botswana: evolution, performance and prospects’, in Salkin, eds. Aspects of the Botswana Economy, 335–67.Google Scholar
Stark, O. 1991. The Migration of Labor. Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Todaro, M. 1969. ‘A model of labor migration and urban unemployment in less developed countries’, American Economic Review 59, 1: 138–48.Google Scholar
UNDP. 2006. UNPD Botswana: Poverty reduction. <http://www.unbotswana.org.bw/undp/poverty.html> accessed 4.1.2008.+accessed+4.1.2008.>Google Scholar
Wikan, G. 2004. ‘The level of living in rural Botswana re-studied’, Norwegian Journal of Geography 58: 1–10.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2006. World Development Report 2006: equity and development. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2008a. The World Bank Group: Botswana Data Profile. <http://devdata.worldbank.org/external/CPProfile.asp?SelectedCountry=BWA&CCODE=BWA&CNAME=Botswana&PTYPE=CP> accessed 4.1.2008.+accessed+4.1.2008.>Google Scholar
World Bank. 2008b. Botswana-at-a-glance. <http://devdata.worldbank.org/AAG/bwa_aag.pdf> accessed 4.1.2008.+accessed+4.1.2008.>Google Scholar
Wylie, D. 1990. A Little God: the twilight of patriarchy in a Southern African chiefdom. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.Google Scholar