Colonialism and Industrialization: Empirical Results

M. Shahid Alam ()

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: This paper presents theory and evidence to show that imperialism was a major factor impeding the spread of the industrial revolution during the century ending in the 1950s. Two empirical results stand out. First, analysis of historical evidence shows that most sovereign countries were implementing active industrial policies during the nineteenth century, while policies in dependent countries were biased in the opposite direction. Second, when allowance is made for economic determinants, industrialization in dependent countries in 1960 is found to be significantly lower than in sovereign countries. This result is shown to be quite robust to changes in data, sample size, functional forms, and specifications of the estimating equations. In particular, the basic results are not affected by the inclusion of a dummy for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Colonialism; Industrialization; Imperialism; Sovereignty; Colony; Open Door Countries; Arthur Lewis; David Landes; Britain; Africa; Asia; Latin America; India; Neo-Marxism; Karl Marx; Dependency Theory; Culture; Climate; Race; Religion; Protection; Free Trade; Friedrich List; Industry; Economies of Scale; External Economies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N10 O14 O24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1998, Revised 2012
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