First published in 1982. Foreign control of capital is a major problem for many developing countries and can lead to the exercise of a form of colonial control whereby capital is provided for political rather than economic reasons. This book discusses the implications of this phenomenon for trade theory and the amount of pressure that foreign countries can exert. The opening chapter examines the themes of de-industrialisation, of stagnation after an initial spurt in economic activity, and the premise that inflows of capital do not necessarily generate growth and expansion. These initial discussions are developed in the subsequent chapters where the effects of foreign ownership on the host country’s economy and trade are dealt with fully. This work would be of interest to students of economics and development.

This book engages in the long-standing debate on the relationship between capitalism and colonialism. Specifically, Rönnbäck and Broberg study the interaction between imperialist policies, colonial institutions and financial markets. Their primary method of analysis is examining micro- and macro-level data relating to a large sample of ventures operating in Africa and traded on the London Stock Exchange between 1869 and 1969. Their study shows that the relationship between capital and colonialism was highly complex. While return from investing in African colonies on average was not extraordinary, there were certainly many occasions when investors enjoyed high return due to various forms of exploitation. While there were actors with rational calculations and deliberate strategies, there was also an important element of chance in determining the return on investment – not least in the mining sector, which overall was the most important business for investment in African ventures during this period. This book finally also demonstrates that the different paths of decolonization in Africa had very diverse effects for investors.

This book confronts critical problems being experienced by Latin America in its quest for development. Special attention is paid to the living conditions of the popular sectors over the last half-century under “industrial colonialism.” The author’s framework of analysis weaves together key structural variables including the neoliberal mode of knowledge creation for material production in order to unveil the actual mechanisms of the reproduction of this system. The decisive role of science in the development of the productive forces forms the basis of explicating the “state development function.” The external and internal manifestations of the main underlying contradictions in Latin America are systematically exposed as they unfold from the region’s particular integration into the imperialist system.