There is a prevailing belief that international law can be harnessed to prevent international problems. However, international law is an intrinsic part of the current state of the capitalist world system. This issue is often overlooked in the dominant discourse. Yet, the international law,...

Plantation elites continued to dominate local colonial governments in the British West Indies even after the abolition of slavery in 1834, directing public spending towards maintaining public order and protecting their property. As such they resisted any reforms that threatened their power,...

During the Scramble for Africa, European colonization relied on private concessionary companies that established distinctive institutional frameworks. This paper provides new empirical evidence suggesting that colonial corporate governance produced divergent long-run development trajectories. I...

We present an historical background and narrative of Spanish policies affecting Philippine trade that maps them onto the changing landscape of influential ideas and emerging political and economic exigencies confronting the colonizing power. An integral or global perspective is adopted that...

This study examines the long-term impact of Hyanggyo, state-sponsored educational institutions established during the early Joseon Dynasty in Korea (1392-1592), on human capital accumulation. Although these schools largely ceased functioning as educational centers by the late 16th century, their...

This case study examines how social protection policymaking in Côte d’Ivoire has been shaped by a complex interplay of colonial legacies, postcolonial ideologies and domestic political-economic dynamics. Through stakeholder interviews and documentary analysis, it offers a nuanced...

Tanzania has made notable progress in expanding its social protection system, yet the influence of colonial governance models, entrenched donor dependency and limited population coverage of existing provisions remain significant. This case study critically explores the historical and...

The historical influence of colonial powers and the continued, deep-rooted engagement of international development actors in shaping social protection systems is widely recognised across academic and policy arenas. Nevertheless, evidence of the role of coloniality in social protection remains...

Are railways always a harbinger of prosperity? We examine the economic effects of railways in Bosnia-Herzegovina under Habsburg colonial rule. Our novel dataset consistently tracks the non-agrarian population share of over 4,500 settlements in Habsburg Bosnia in 1885, 1895, and 1910, based on...

The transition from sail to steam for emigrant ships on the route to Australia took place in the early 1880s, nearly two decades later than on the route across the Atlantic. The lag can be accounted for by the incremental improvement in steam technology and by aspects of economic and business...