An Economic History of Indonesia (Routledge Studies in the Growth Economies of Asia)

Based on new datasets, this book presents an economic history of Indonesia. It analyses the causes of stagnation of growth during the colonial and independence period, making use of new theoretical insights from institutional economics and new growth theory.

The book looks at the major themes of Indonesian history: colonial exploitation and the successes and limitations of the post 1900 welfare policies, the price of instability after 1945, and the economic miracle after 1967. The book not only discusses economic change and development – or the lack thereof – but also the institutional and socio-political structures that were behind these changes. It also presents a lot of new data on the changing welfare of the Indonesian population, on income distribution, and on the functioning of markets for rice, credit and labour. Concluding with a discussion on whether the poor profited from the economic changes, this book is a useful contribution to Southeast Asian Studies and International Economics.

Jan Luiten van Zanden is Professor of Global Economic History at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He has published widely about processes of long-term economic development in Europe and Asia.

Daan Marks obtained his PhD in economics at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He is currently working as a senior economist at the Dutch Ministry of Finance.