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Chinese Entrepreneurship in Indonesia: A Business Demography Approach

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  • Pierre van der Eng

Abstract

This paper analyses the demography of 1,600 registered firms owned and/or operated by ethnic Chinese businessmen in Indonesia during 1890-1940 in search of generalizable indications of Schumpeterian entrepreneurship. The population of firms increased significantly since 1890, before many went out of business in the 1920s and a new generation of firms and entrepreneurs emerged. By 1910 most firms were active in trade, but this categorisation takes insufficient account of their diverse business activities. During 1910-1940 the share of firms in other industries increased. Several were active in finance, taking deposits and financing business ventures. In the 1930s, the average equity value of the enterprises more than doubled, reflecting diversification into more capital-intensive operations, particularly manufacturing. These changes in the population of firms refute the perception that ethnic Chinese businessmen were not Schumpeterian entrepreneurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre van der Eng, 2020. "Chinese Entrepreneurship in Indonesia: A Business Demography Approach," CEH Discussion Papers 06, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.
    • Handle: RePEc:auu:hpaper:088
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    File URL: https://cbe.anu.edu.au/researchpapers/CEH/WP202006.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Frans Buelens & Ewout Frankema, 2016. "Colonial adventures in tropical agriculture: new estimates of returns to investment in the Netherlands Indies, 1919–1938," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 10(2), pages 197-224, may.
    2. Yuko Kudo, 2018. "Dutch Bank Transactions with Chinese Traders in the Dutch East Indies: The Java Sugar Trade and the 1917 Sugar Crisis," Monograph Series of the Socio-Economic History Society, Japan, in: Tomoko Shiroyama (ed.), Modern Global Trade and the Asian Regional Economy, chapter 0, pages 3-31, Springer.
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    Cited by:

    1. Abe De Jong, 2022. "Research in business history: From theorising to bizhismetrics," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 66-79, March.
    2. Pierre van der Eng, 2022. "Securities Trading in an Emerging Market: Indonesia, 1890s-1950s," CEH Discussion Papers 06, Centre for Economic History, Research School of Economics, Australian National University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business demography; entrepreneurship; Chinese; Indonesia; Southeast Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • N85 - Economic History - - Micro-Business History - - - Asia including Middle East

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