Foreign Capital and Colonial Development in Indonesia: A Synthesis

https://doi.org/10.22146/lembaran-sejarah.39858

Jan Thomas Lindblad(1*)

(1) Leiden University
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


This article discusses impacts of investment by foreign firms, in particular Dutch firms, on economy and society in Indonesia during the late colonial period (1910-1940) and immediately after independence (the 1950s). It starts out with a survey of the historiography, arguing that impacts of foreign investment on the host country have not been sufficiently specified in the literature. It offers a digression on the dimensions of foreign investment in colonial Indonesia as inferred from newly available primary data highlighting the chief characteristics of such investment. The article surveys a variety of economic and social impacts on the macro level and the level of individual regions and selected firms, focusing in particular on impacts that have so far received scant attention. A major conclusion is that positive gains did materialize in the host country, both economic and social, but also that the gains stayed short of what could potentially have been realized. The Dutch private firms investing in colonial Indonesia did display a measure of corporate social responsibility but their initiatives and efforts in that vein could have reached, considering the profitability of their operations. If so, they would have had a significantly larger impact on economy and society in colonial Indonesia.

Keywords


foreign investment; colonial Indonesia; business corporations

Full Text:

PDF


References

Berkhuysen, A.P.H. ‘De drainage theorie voor Indonesië’, PhD thesis, Leiden University, 1948.

Booth, Anne. The Indonesian economy in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: A history of missed opportunities. London: Macmillan, 1998.

Booth, Anne. Colonial legacies: Economic and social development in East and Southeast Asia. Honolul: University of Hawai’i Press, 2007.

Booth, Anne. Economic change in modern Indonesia: Colonial and post-colonial comparisons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.

Buelens, Frans and Ewout Frankema. ‘Colonial adventures in tropical agriculture: New estimates of returns to investment in the Netherlands Indies, 1919-1938’, Cliometrica, Vol. 10 No. 2, 2016, pp. 197-224.

Callis, H.G. Foreign capital in Southeast Asia. New York: Institute of Pacific Relations, 1942.

Campo, J.N.F.M. à. ‘Strength, survival and success; A statistical profile of corporate enterprise in colonial Indonesia 1893-1913’, Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Vol. 46, 1995, pp. 45-74.

Campo, J.N.F.M. à. ‘The rise of corporate enterprise in colonial Indonesia, 1893-1913’, in: J. Thomas Lindblad (ed.), Historical foundations of a national economy in Indonesia, 1880s-1990s. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1996, pp. 71-94.

Clemens, Adrian, J. Thomas Lindblad & Jeroen Touwen. Changing Economy in Indonesia. Vol. 12B. Regional patterns in foreign trade 1911-1940. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1992.

Creutzberg, P. Changing Economy in Indonesia. Vol. 3. Expenditure on fixed assets. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1977.

Creutzberg, P. Changing Economy in Indonesia. Vol. 5. National income. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1979.

Derksen, J.B.D. & J. Tinbergen. ‘Berekeningen over de economische betekenis van Nederlandsch-Indië voor Nederland’, Maandschrift van het Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek, Vol. 40, 1945, pp. 210-216.

Dick, Howard et al. [= Howard Dick, Vincent J.H. Houben, J. Thomas Lindblad & Thee Kian Wie]. The emergence of a national economy in Indonesia: An economic history of Indonesia, 1800-2000. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin, 2002.

Eng, Pierre van der. ‘The “colonial drain” from Indonesia, 1823-1993’. Research paper. Canberra: Australian National University, 1993.

Eng, Pierre van der. ‘Indonesia’s growth performance in the twentieth century’, in: Angus Maddison, D.S. Prasada Rao & William F. Shepherd (eds), The Asian economies in the twentieth century. Cheltenham: Elgar, 2002, pp. 143-179.

Gordon, Alec. ‘Netherlands East Indies: The large colonial surplus of Indonesia, 1878-1939’, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 40 No. 3, 2010, pp. 425-443.

Hadinoto, Soejono. Ekonomi Indonesia: Dari ekonomi kolonial ke ekonomi nasional. Jakarta: Jajasan Pembangunan, 1949.

Handboek voor cultuur- en handelsondernemingen in Nederlandsch-Indië. Amsterdam: De Bussy, 1888-1940.

Helsdingen, W.H. van. Daar werd wat groots verricht. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1941.

Korthals Altes, W.L. Changing Economy in Indonesia. Vol. 7. Balance of payments 1822-1939. Amsterdam: Royal Tropical Institute, 1987.

Lindblad, J. Thomas. ‘Business strategies in late colonial Indonesia’, in: J. Thomas Lindblad (ed.), Historical foundations of a national economy in Indonesia, 1890s-1990s. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1996, pp. 207-228.

Lindblad, J. Thomas. ‘The economic relationship between the Netherlands and colonial Indonesia, 1870-1940’, in: J.L. van Zanden (ed.), The economic development of the Netherlands since 1870. Cheltenham/Brookfield: Elgar, 1996, pp. 109-119.

Lindblad, J. Thomas. Foreign investment in Southeast Asia in the twentieth century. London: Macmillan, 1998.

Lindblad, J. Thomas. Bridges to new business: The economic decolonization of Indonesia. Leiden: KITLV Press, 2008.

Lindblad, J. Thomas. ‘Booming business in colonial Indonesia: Corporate strategy and profitability during the 1920s’. Paper presented at the 23rd conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia, Alor Star, Malaysia, August 2014 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Lindblad, J. Thomas, Frank Ochsendorf & Mark van de Water. ‘Foreign investment and Dutch colonialism: Case studies from Indonesia’. Paper presented at the 7th Euroseas conference in Lisbon, Portugal, July 2013 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Maddison, Angus. ‘Dutch income in and from Indonesia, 1700-1938’, in: Angus Maddison & Gé Prince (eds) (1989) Economic growth in Indonesia, 1820-1940. Dordrecht and Cinnaminson, NJ: Foris, 1989, pp. 15-42 [also published in: Modern Asian Studies Vol. 23, pp. 645-670].

Ochsendorf, Frank. ‘Gains from foreign investment for indigenous society in North Sumatra, 1860-1960’. Paper presented at the World Economic History Congress, Kyoto, Japan, August 2015 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Ochsendorf, Frank. ‘Foreign capital and indigenous economic development in Indonesia: Spillovers and linkages in a colonial setting’. Paper presented at the international workshop on ‘Colonial Business in Indonesia: The impact of foreign investment on economy and society’, Yogyakarta, August 2016 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Ochsendorf, Frank & Mark van de Water. ‘Changing circumstances and strategies: A new era of business in newly independent Indonesia’. Paper presented at the 23rd conference of the International Association of Historians of Asia, Alor Star, Malaysia, August 2014 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Taselaar, Arjen. De Nederlandse koloniale lobby: Ondernemers en de Indische politiek 1914-1940. Leiden: CNWS, 1998.

Water, Mark van de. ‘Dutch investment in the late colonial period and after Indonesian independence: Three case studies’. Paper presented at the World Economic History Congress in Kyoto, Japan, August 2015 [www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl].

Zanden, Jan Luiten van & Daan Marks. An economic history of Indonesia, 1800-2010. London: Routledge, 2012.

Website

Colonial Business Indonesia (CBI), at www.colonialbusinessindonesia.nl .



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/lembaran-sejarah.39858

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 3412 | views : 2641

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2018 Lembaran Sejarah

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

ISSN 2620-5882(online) | © 2024 Lembaran Sejarah

View My Stats