In this paper we estimate inequality in Indonesia between 1932 and 1999. There was an increase in inequality at the start of this period but then a sharp decline from the 1960s. A shift from domestic to export agriculture over the period up to the Great Depression accounts for the increase in...

Building on recent work by Collins et al. this paper aims to explain the failure of corporate and public initiatives to alleviate poverty before the twentieth century by unravelling the financial rationale behind the various combinations of private efforts, family and neighbourhood help,...