An Ecological and Historical Perspective on Agricultural Development in Southeast Asia

dc.creatorHayami, Yujiro
dc.date2015-07-28T18:20:23Z
dc.date2015-07-28T18:20:23Z
dc.date2000-03
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-01T00:36:47Z
dc.descriptionAccording to Myint's "vent-for-surplus" theory, development of the economies of Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand from the nineteenth century on depended on the natural advantage of large tracts of unused "empty land" with low population density and abundant natural resources of the type typically found in Southeast Asia and Africa at the outset of Western colonization. When these economies were integrated into international trade, hitherto unused natural resources (primary commodities the indigenous people had not valued) became the source of economic development, commanding market value because of high import demand in Western economies. The major delta of Chao Phraya River was the resource base of vent-for-surplus development with rice in Thailand; tropical rain forests filled that role in Indonesia and the Philippines with respect to the production of tropical cash crops. This basic difference underlay differences in the distribution of farm size: the unimodal distribution of peasants or family farms in Thailand and the coexistence of peasants and large estate farms or plantations specializing in tropical export crops in Indonesia and the Philippines. Differences in agrarian development were also shaped by different policies toward the elites preemption of unused land. Under Spanish colonialism, the elite preempted unused land in the Philippines wholesale, bifurcating land distribution between non-cultivating landlords and sharecroppers in lowland rice areas, and between plantation owners and wage laborers in upland areas. In Indonesia, the Dutch government granted long-term leases for uncultivated public land to foreign planters, but prevented alienation of cultivated land from native peasants, to avoid social instability. In Thailand, concessions were granted for private canal building, but the independent kingdom preserved the tradition of giving land to anyone who could open and cultivate it. Relatively homogenous land-owning peasants dominated Thailand's rural sector. As frontiers for new cultivation closed, the plantation systems initial advantage (large-scale development of land and infrastructure) began to be outweighed by its need to monitor hired labor. The peasant system, based on family labor needing no supervision, allowed Thailand's share of the world market in tropical cash crops to grow, as Indonesia and the Philippines lost their traditional comparative advantage. Moreover, land reform in the Philippines made land markets inactive, with resulting distortions in resource allocation and serious underinvestment in agriculture.
dc.formatapplication/pdf
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2000/03/437870/ecological-historical-perspective-agricultural-development-southeast-asia
dc.identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/22312
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-2296
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/123456789/407339
dc.languageEnglish
dc.languageen_US
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relationPolicy Research Working Paper;No. 2296
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rightshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/
dc.rightsWorld Bank
dc.subjectAGRIBUSINESS
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL GROWTH
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL LABOR
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL LAND
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL OUTPUT
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
dc.subjectAGRICULTURE
dc.subjectARABLE LAND
dc.subjectBANANAS
dc.subjectCASH CROPS
dc.subjectCINNAMON
dc.subjectCOASTAL PLAINS
dc.subjectCOASTS
dc.subjectCOCOA
dc.subjectCOCONUTS
dc.subjectCOFFEE
dc.subjectCOMMODITY
dc.subjectCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE
dc.subjectCONTRACT FARMING
dc.subjectCOPRA
dc.subjectCOTTAGE INDUSTRIES
dc.subjectCOTTON
dc.subjectCROP
dc.subjectCROP PRODUCTION
dc.subjectCROPLAND
dc.subjectCROPPING
dc.subjectCULTIVABLE LAND
dc.subjectCULTIVATED LAND
dc.subjectDEVELOPMENT RESEARCH
dc.subjectDISEASES
dc.subjectDRAINAGE
dc.subjectDRY SEASON
dc.subjectECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS
dc.subjectECOLOGICAL FACTORS
dc.subjectECOLOGICAL ZONES
dc.subjectECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectECONOMIC GROWTH
dc.subjectEQUIPMENT
dc.subjectESTATE CROPS
dc.subjectEXPLOITATION
dc.subjectEXPORT CROPS
dc.subjectFAO
dc.subjectFARM
dc.subjectFARM HOUSEHOLDS
dc.subjectFARM INCOME
dc.subjectFARM LAND
dc.subjectFARMER
dc.subjectFARMERS
dc.subjectFARMING
dc.subjectFARMS
dc.subjectFLOOD PLAINS
dc.subjectFLOODING
dc.subjectFOOD CROPS
dc.subjectFRUITS
dc.subjectGNP
dc.subjectGREEN REVOLUTION
dc.subjectHARVESTING
dc.subjectIMPORTS
dc.subjectINCOME
dc.subjectINCOME DISTRIBUTION
dc.subjectINDIGENOUS PEOPLE
dc.subjectINTEGRATION
dc.subjectIRRIGATION
dc.subjectIRRIGATION SYSTEMS
dc.subjectLABOR FORCE
dc.subjectLAMB
dc.subjectLAND ACCESS
dc.subjectLAND DISTRIBUTION
dc.subjectLAND OWNERSHIP
dc.subjectLAND PRODUCTIVITY
dc.subjectLAND REFORM
dc.subjectLAND RESOURCES
dc.subjectLANDS
dc.subjectLONG-TERM CONTRACTS
dc.subjectMAIZE
dc.subjectMARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY
dc.subjectMARKETING
dc.subjectMULTIPLE CROPPING
dc.subjectNATURAL RESOURCES
dc.subjectOIL
dc.subjectOPPORTUNITY COSTS
dc.subjectPALM OIL
dc.subjectPEPPER
dc.subjectPLANTATION
dc.subjectPLANTATIONS
dc.subjectPLANTING
dc.subjectPOTATOES
dc.subjectPRIVATE PROPERTY
dc.subjectPRODUCE
dc.subjectPRODUCERS
dc.subjectPRODUCT QUALITY
dc.subjectPRODUCTION FUNCTIONS
dc.subjectPRODUCTIVITY OF LAND
dc.subjectPROPERTY RIGHTS
dc.subjectQUALITY STANDARDS
dc.subjectRAINFALL
dc.subjectRAINFED FARMING
dc.subjectRESEARCH AGENDA
dc.subjectRESERVOIR
dc.subjectRESOURCE ALLOCATION
dc.subjectRICE
dc.subjectRICE AREAS
dc.subjectRICE CULTIVATION
dc.subjectRICE PRODUCTION
dc.subjectRICE VARIETIES
dc.subjectROOTS
dc.subjectRURAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectSEEDLINGS
dc.subjectSHIFTING CULTIVATION
dc.subjectSTRATIFICATION
dc.subjectSTREAMS
dc.subjectSUGAR
dc.subjectSUGAR CANE
dc.subjectSUGARCANE
dc.subjectTEA
dc.subjectTECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS
dc.subjectTERRACING
dc.subjectTEXTILES
dc.subjectTREE CROPS
dc.subjectTREES
dc.subjectTROPICAL CROPS
dc.subjectTROPICAL PRODUCTS
dc.subjectTROPICAL RAIN FORESTS
dc.subjectUPLAND FORESTS
dc.subjectUPLAND RICE
dc.subjectWAGES
dc.subjectWATER SUPPLY
dc.titleAn Ecological and Historical Perspective on Agricultural Development in Southeast Asia
dc.typeWorking Paper
dc.typeDocument de travail
dc.typeDocumento de trabajo

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