Capital and Entrepreneurship in South-East Asia

This book traces the growth of capitalism in South-East Asia between 1870 and 1941 through a number of detailed studies of European, Chinese, Indian and Japanese business concerns operating in the region. It focuses on three questions: Why was indigenous capitalism so weak in colonial South-East Asia? What were the institutional weaknesses in an otherwise dominant Chinese capitalist class, and why did it fail to transform itself into a modern industrial elite? What was the impact of Western colonialism and Japanese economic penetration on South-East Asia's prospects for achieving sustainable economic growth? By offering an analysis of the nature of capitalist growth in South-East Asia's modern history, this book provides an invaluable insight into contemporary change in this rapidly growing region.