Indonesian Exports, Peasant Agriculture and the World Economy 1850–2000 — 2009 ·

Economic Structures in a Southeast Asian State

By Hiroyoshi Kano

“Using exhaustive statistical data from international and domestic sources, Kano . . . has analyzed changes in the direction and contents of international trade and balance of payments to Indonesia.”

Choice

“Japanese scholars have made important contributions to Indonesian studies in recent years, but when they publish in Japanese, their work is known only to the small number of scholars of Southeast Asia who are able to read that language. It is good to welcome a book by Professor H. Kano of the University of Tokyo which includes both translations of work previously published in Japanese and also several new chapters prepared for the volume. . . . (A) stimulating book, well worth the attention of all serious students of Indonesia’s economic history since the middle years of the nineteenth century.”

The Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

The Indonesian economy, like the Indonesian nation state, took shape as part of the colonial transformation of the archipelago by the Dutch in the mid-nineteenth century. The agricultural sector of the economy provided food and labor to the export sector, which was firmly incorporated into the world economy through international trade. This economic pattern survived several shifts and persisted even after Indonesia became independent in the mid-twentieth century.

Hiroyoshi Kano uses international trade statistics to analyze three key elements of the Indonesian economy: the balance of international trade and payments, the transformation undergone by leading export industries, and the way in which the agricultural sector supplied land, labor, and food. Dividing the 150 years covered by the book into four periods, based on the prevailing major export industries, Kano identifies key actors and analyzes long-term changes in agricultural production and rural society, examining how they shaped the national Indonesian economy. Well-written and well-organized, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of Indonesian and international business and economic history.

Hiroyoshi Kano is Professor with the Institute or Oriental Culture at The University of Tokyo. A specialist on Indonesia, Professor Kano has published widely in Japanese and Indonesian on topics related to economic developments in modern Indonesia with a particular emphasis on land and agrarian change.