Chapter 9
Colonialism
Most people agree that the subjugation and subsequent domination by one
country of another is a bad thing. This simple moral question has obscured a
deeper understanding of the nature and impact of colonialism. The bigger
question is whether studying the colonial experience helps us to understand
centuries of economic growth and their manifestation in contemporary global
economic inequalities? This chapter explores various accounts of the influ-
ences and impact of colonialism. Acemoglu et al.’s settler/extractive typology
is too crude, as case studies of colonialism in India, Korea, and Nigeria demon-
strate. Although Marxist thought has long since disappeared from mainstream
economic discussion, it offers a rich seam of academic writing and analysis
that illuminates the impact of colonialism. The key thematic debates about the
impact of colonialism on development in the colonies are the drain of surplus,
deindustrialization, diversity and isolation, and human development.
Colonialism and economic growth
Colonialism has influenced growth at a proximate level through policies relat-
ing to investment, education and land during the colonial era. Colonial rulers,
for example, have been widely blamed for inadequate spending on health and
education. During the post-independence era colonialism has also impacted on
deeper determinants of economic growth (see Figure 9.1). Colonial powers
drew borders and left some countries landlocked (see Chapter 11) or left lega-
cies of conflict as international borders ran through traditional tribal or linguis-
tic groups. Colonial powers either left behind institutions that they had
imported from the home country or propped up indigenous institutions (see
Chapter 10). After the 1950s many neo-Marxists or dependency scholars
linked FDI and openness to colonialism, arguing they had been key mecha-
nisms of domination and exploitation (Chapter 3 and 13).
The diversity of colonialism
The experience and impact of colonialism have been diverse. The Acemoglu et
al. thesis states that the geography of the colonized country had the determin-
ing impact on the nature of the colonial experience. Various case studies show
that the nature of the colonizer was also an important influence.
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