The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth CenturyThis book provides a comprehensive overview of the economic development of Singapore, easily the leading commercial and financial centre in Southeast Asia throughout the twentieth century. This development has been based on a strategic location at the crossroads of Asia, a free trade economy, and a dynamic entrepreneurial tradition. Initial twentieth-century economic success was linked to a group of legendary Chinese entrepreneurs, but by mid-century independent Singapore looked to multinational enterprise to deliver economic growth. Nonetheless exports of manufactures accounted for only part of Singaporean expansion, and by the 1980s Singapore was a major international financial centre and leading world exporter of commercial services. Throughout this study Dr Huff assesses the interaction of government policy and market forces, and places the transformation of the Singaporean economy in the context of both development theory and experience elsewhere in East Asia. |
Contents
List of figures | ix |
List of tables | x |
Preface and acknowledgements | xv |
Abbreviations and conventions | xviii |
Geographical definitions | xx |
Introduction | 1 |
Patterns in the economic development of Singapore 18701990 | 7 |
Singapore in the late nineteenth century | 43 |
Rubber boom and spread of a twentieth century staple | 180 |
Rubber industrialization and the development of Chinese banking | 208 |
Petroleum and tin the twentiethcentury boom commodity and a staple in decline | 236 |
The distribution of manufactured imports | 257 |
The staple port resurgent development to 1959 | 273 |
Markets government and growth 19601990 | 299 |
Conclusion | 361 |
Appendix tables | 372 |
Other editions - View all
The Economic Growth of Singapore: Trade and Development in the Twentieth Century W. G. Huff No preview available - 1994 |
Common terms and phrases
agency houses annual averages annual series appendix table Asia Asian barter British Malaya capital cargo census centre century China Chinese banks Colony Commerce companies Conference countries currency dealers Directory distribution economic growth employment enterprise European merchant Federated Malay figures finance firms foreign Goh Keng Swee hinterland Hong Kong Ibid immigration imports and exports included increased Indonesia inter-war period investment island Japan Japanese Johore Kuala Lumpur labour force linkages London Malay Peninsula Malaysia manufactured exports mercantile merchant houses Netherlands India Penang petroleum pineapple population Port of Singapore primary commodity production region Report rice rubber sector Siam Singapore Chinese Singapore manufacturing Singapore's economic development Singapore's exports Singapore's trade smallholder Sources SSAR SSLCP SSTC staple port Straits Settlements substantial Tan Kah Kee textiles tons trade statistics transhipment transport tropical produce United vessels wages wharves workers