Since many countries in the world at present were European colonies in the not so distant past, the relationship between colonial institutions and development outcomes is a key topic of study across many disciplines.This edited volume, from a leading international group of scholars, discusses...

Employing comparative and quantitative historical methods Frankema explores long run trends of asset and income distribution in Latin America, arguing that there is little reason to regard the yawning gap between rich and poor as the persistent result of a colonial heritage.

1. Extractive institutions in the Congo : checks and balances in the longue duree / Andreas Exenberger and Simon Hartmann -- 2. Colonial extraction in the Indonesian archipelago : a long historical view / Thee Kian Wie -- 3. Varieties of exploitation in colonial settings : Dutch and Belgian...