The Demographic Effects of Colonialism: Forced Labor and Mortality in Java, 1834–1879

@article{deZwart2021TheDE,
  title={The Demographic Effects of Colonialism: Forced Labor and Mortality in Java, 1834–1879},
  author={Pim de Zwart and Daniel Gallardo‐Albarr{\'a}n and Auke Rijpma},
  journal={The Journal of Economic History},
  year={2021},
  volume={82},
  pages={211 - 249}
}
We investigate the demographic effects of forced labor under an extractive colonial regime: the Cultivation System in nineteenth-century Java. Our panel analyses show that labor demands are strongly positively associated with mortality rates, likely resulting from malnourishment and unhygienic conditions on plantations and the spread of infectious diseases. An instrumental variable approach, using international market prices for coffee and sugar for predicting labor demands, addresses potential… 
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