Change and Involution in Sugar Production in Cultivation-System Java, 1840–1870

In: The journal of economic history, Band 59, Heft 4, S. 885-911

Abstract

Production functions for sugar in four major sugar-producing zones in Cultivation- System Java (1840 through 1870) are estimated using colonial data. The estimates are analyzed for evidence of structural change in the years from 1848 to 1851. The results confirm that the colonial reforms of those years were accompanied by significant changes in sugar production: the results are also consistent with the thesis of "agricultural involution" in Java. There is strong evidence for technological change in sugar production, though these gains cannot be specifically attributed to either the agricultural or the industrial aspect of sugar production.