Revisiting Colonial Industrialization in Malaya

Rajah Rasiah

Chapter Chapter 2 in Contesting Malaysia’s Integration into the World Economy, 2021, pp 15-39 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Past works on colonial industrialization are dominated by accounts of both the stunting of the process, as well as the mercantilist orientation of the process owing to the application of laisse-faire trade practices. This chapter contests both accounts by arguing that modern industrialization emerged during colonialism and that strong elements of trust alongside markets were instrumental in the emergence of manufacturing based on the use of power-driven machinery, fabrication and maintenance activities. War-time disruptions added further impetus for manufacturing to grow. However, the chapter argues that colonial policy of targeting Malaya for the production of primary commodities restricted manufacturing growth, but that the infrastructure created offered the post-colonial government the space to pursue full-scale industrialization.

Keywords: Colonial industrialization; Markets; Trust; Malaya (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-16-0650-2_2

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DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-0650-2_2

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