Does Colonization Affect Growth? An Empirical Comparative ‎Study of Nine Asian Countries

  • Authors

    • Rizqon Halal Syah Aji Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis UIN Jakarta
    • Najwa Khairina Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis UIN Jakarta
    • Rizki Dito Subekti Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis, Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia
    • Al Amin Department of Islamic Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Airlangga, ‎Surabaya, Indonesia. Department of Economics and Business, Universitas Islam Negeri ‎Bukittinggi, Bukittinggi, Indonesia
    • Titik Nurhayati Swamedia Research & Communication, Jakarta
    https://doi.org/10.14419/nm5x4s21

    Received date: October 6, 2025

    Accepted date: November 11, 2025

    Published date: November 16, 2025

  • Convergence; Fixed Effect Model; Random Effect Model; Colonialism; Growth

  • Abstract

    The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of economic growth in nine Asian ‎countries during two observation periods, namely from 1976 to 2021 for absolute convergence ‎and from 2002 to 2021 for conditional convergence. The analysis employed three types: Pooled ‎OLS, Fixed Effects (FEM) model, and Random Effects (REM) model. The results of this study's ‎analysis indicate that government consumption, the ratio of exports to imports, and population ‎have a significant influence on GDP growth per capita. Moreover, the existence of absolute and ‎conditional convergence in several time periods explains the relationship with economic growth. ‎The interaction between colonialism and the export-import ratio showed a significant positive ‎influence, while the interaction with the rule of law showed a significant negative impact. The ‎policy recommendations of this study are that we must continue to improve the efficiency of ‎government spending, strategic investments in productive sectors, and legal reforms to create a ‎conducive investment environment. This research underscores the need to expand the scope of ‎data and adopt a more comprehensive methodology to investigate the dynamics of achieving ‎sustainable economic growth in the future‎.

  • References

    1. Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. (2000). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development. In NBER Working Paper (Issue 7771). https://www.nber.org/papers/w7771.pdf. https://doi.org/10.3386/w7771.
    2. Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S., & Robinson, J. A. (2001). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation. American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.91.5.1369.
    3. Al-Sadiq, A. (2014). Growth, Convergence and Income Distribution: The Road from the Brisbane G20 Summit. In Think Tank 20 (Issue November, pp. 142–148).
    4. AlAdlani, A. H. (2019). Governance and Economic Growth in the Arab World: Evidence from Panel Data Analysis. In Western Michigan University. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/3448.
    5. Arčabić, V., Kim, K. T., You, Y., & Lee, J. (2021). Century-long dynamics and convergence of income inequality among the US states. Economic Modelling, 101(October 2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2021.105526.
    6. Auer, R. A. (2015). Human Capital and the Dynamic Effects of Trade. Journal of Development Economics, 117, 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2015.07.004.
    7. Barro, R. J. (1991). Economic growth in a cross-section of countries. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106(2), 407–443. https://doi.org/10.2307/2937943.
    8. Barro, R. J. (1996). Determinants of Economic Growth: A Cross-Country Empirical Study. In NBER Working Paper 5698 (Issue 5698). https://doi.org/10.3386/w5698.
    9. Barro, R. J., & Sala-i-martin, X. (1992). Convergence. Journal of Political Economy, 100(2), 223–251. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2138606. https://doi.org/10.1086/261816.
    10. Bertochhi, G., & Canova, F. (1996). Did Colonization Matter for Growth? An Empirical Look into the Historical Causes of Africa’s Underdevelopment. 1–24. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.35765.
    11. Cass, D. (1965). Optimum Growth in an Aggregative Model of Capital Accumulation: A Turnpike Theorem. Econometrica, 34(4), 833. https://doi.org/10.2307/1910103.
    12. Castelló-Climent, A., & Doménech, R. (2022). Converging to Convergence: The Role of Human Capital Converging to Convergence: The Role of Human Capital * (Issue 22/12). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2335045/v1
    13. Cohen, D., & Soto, M. (2007). Growth and human capital: good data, good results. Journal of Economic Growth, 12(1), 51–76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9011-5.
    14. Dore, N., & Teixeira, A. A. C. (2022). Do Human Capital and Institutional Quality Contribute to Brazil’s Long-Term Real Convergence/ Divergence Process? A Markov Regime-Switching. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4157523.
    15. Autoregressive Approach. SSRN Electronic Journal, January. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4157523.
    16. Fatima, S., Chen, B., Ramzan, M., & Abbas, Q. (2020). The Nexus Between Trade Openness and GDP Growth: Analyzing the Role of Human Capital Accumulation. SAGE Open, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020967377.
    17. Frankel, J. A., & Romer, D. (1999). Does trade cause growth? American Economic Review, 89(3), 379– 399. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.89.3.379.
    18. Furuoka, F. (2019). Do CLMV countries catch up with the older ASEAN members in terms of income level? Applied Economics Letters, 26(8), 690–697. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2018.1489494.
    19. Grier, R. M. (2016). Colonial Legacies and Economic Growth. Springer, 98(3), 317–335. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30024490. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018322908007.
    20. Haider, A., Hameed, S., & Wajid, A. (2010). Income convergence Hypothesis: A Regional Comparison of selected East and South Asian Economies (Issue 23739).
    21. Harrison, A. (1996). Openness and growth: A time-series, cross-country analysis for developing countries. Journal of Development Economics, 48(2), 419–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3878(95)00042-9.
    22. Head, K., Mayer, T., & Ries, J. (2010). The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2010.01.002.
    23. Journal of International Economics, 81(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2010.01.002 .
    24. Islam, N. (1995). Growth Empirics : A Panel Data Approach. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(4), 1127–1170. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2946651. https://doi.org/10.2307/2946651.
    25. Ito, T. (2017). Growth convergence and the middle-income trap. Asian Development Review, 34(1), 1–27https://doi.org/10.1162/ADEV_a_00079.
    26. Ivanovski, K., Awaworyi Churchill, S., & Inekwe, J. (2020). Convergence in Income Inequality Across Australian States and Territories. Social Indicators Research, 148(1), 127–142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02201-0.
    27. Jiang, Y. (2014). Interregional Disparity and Convergence Tendency: An Empirical Study of TFP https://doi.org/10.11114/aef.v1i2.386.
    28. Growth in China. Applied Economics and Finance, 1(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.11114/aef.v1i2.386.
    29. Johnson, P., Papageorgiou, C., Akerlof, G., Berg, A., Blanchard, O., Deaton, A., Milanovic, B.,
    30. Obstfeld, M., Pritchett, L., Rodrik, D., Sachs, J., & Warner, A. (2018). Munich Personal RePEc Archive: What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence? What Remains of Cross-Country Convergence? 89355.
    31. Karras, G. (2001). Long-run economic growth in Europe: is it endogenous or neoclassical? International Economic Journal, 15(2), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/10168730100000037 .
    32. Koopmans, T. C. (1963). On the Concept of Optimal Economic Growth. Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers, 163, 1–40.
    33. https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=15715&context=ypfsdocuments.
    34. Kumar, S., & Russell, R. R. (2002). Technological change, technological catch-up, and capital deepening: Relative contributions to growth and convergence. American Economic Review, 92(3), 527–548. https://doi.org/10.1257/00028280260136381.
    35. Lavallée, E., & Lochard, J. (2015). The comparative effects of independence on trade. Journal of Comparative Economics, 43(3), 613–632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jce.2014.11.001.
    36. Li, G., & Fang, C. (2018). Spatial Econometric Analysis of Urban and County-level Economic Growth Convergence in China. In International Regional Science Review (Vol. 41, Issue 4). https://doi.org/10.1177/0160017616653446.
    37. Malik, M. A., & Masood, T. (2022). Dynamics of Output Growth and Convergence in the Middle East and North African Countries: Heterogeneous Panel ARDL Approach. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 13(2), 1444–1469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-021-00780-3.
    38. Mensah, P. (2020). Growth Convergence Across Countries and Regions in the Long Run: An Empirical Study Using Panel Analysis (1980-2018). https://thekeep.eiu.edu/theses.
    39. Ouedraogo, I., Ngoa Tabi, H., Atangana Ondoa, H., & Jiya, A. N. (2022). Institutional quality and human capital development in Africa. Economic Systems, 46(1), 100937. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecosys.2021.100937.
    40. Ramsey, F. P. (1928). A Mathematical Theory of Saving. The Economic Journal, 38(152), 543–559. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2224098. https://doi.org/10.2307/2224098.
    41. Romer, P. M. (1986). Increasing Returns and Long-Run Growth. Journal of Political Economy, 94(5), 1002–1037. https://doi.org/10.1086/261420.
    42. Solarin, S. A., Erdogan, S., & Pata, U. K. (2023). Convergence of Income Inequality in OECD Countries Since 1870: A Multi-Method Approach with Structural Changes. Social Indicators Research, 166(3), 601–626. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-023-03080-2.
    43. Solow, R. M. (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1884513. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513.
    44. Sposi, M., Yi, K.-M., & Zhang, J. (2021). Trade Integration, Global Value Chains, and Capital Accumulation. https://doi.org/10.3386/w28087.
    45. Suidarma, M., Adi, N. R., Prabawa, D. K. G., & Mulyadi, M. (2019). The Role of Digital Technology in Converging Economic Growth in ASEAN+3. International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 8(6), 377–387.
    46. Tsugane, S. (2021). Why has Japan become the world’s most long-lived country: insights from a food and nutrition perspective. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 75(6), 921–928. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0677-5.
    47. United Nations Development Programme China (UNDP). (2022). Issue brief: China in numbers (2022). In the United Nations Department Programme (Issue July).
    48. Wahiba, N. F. (2015). Convergence and Divergence among Countries. Asian Economic and Financial Review, 5(3), 510–520. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.aefr/2015.5.3/102.3.510.520.
    49. Yu, S., Beugelsdijk, S., & de Haan, J. (2015). Trade, trust, and the rule of law. European Journal of Political Economy, 37, 102–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2014.11.003.
    50. Susanto, S., Amin, A., Padli, H., Joni, Y., Fithri, W. D. Z., Nurillah, S. L., Hardiyanti, I. S., & Widoyo, Heru, Adelina, Julia, Irnayenti, M. (2025). Measuring The Influence of The Central Business District Development of SDGs on The Growth and Income of People Affected by The Development of The New Nusantara Capital City. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 4(12), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.14419/q4d9fn39.
    51. Waoma, S., Izmuddin, I., Judijanto, L., & others. (2024). Perceptual Mapping Marketplace TikTok Shop, Tokopedia, Shopee, Lazada, Blibli: Positioning Marketplace Based on Indonesian Online Shopper Preferences. Journal of Ecohumanism, 3(4), 2726–2737. https://doi.org/10.62754/joe.v3i4.3786.
    52. Waoma, S., Judijanto, L., Izmuddin, I., Wati, F. S., & others. (2024). A Bibliometric Analysis of Halal Production in Relation to Halal Authentication (Database Scopus 2013-2023). Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental, 18(6), e05425–e05425. https://doi.org/10.24857/rgsa.v18n6-030.

  • Downloads

  • How to Cite

    Aji, R. H. S. ., Khairina, N. ., Subekti, R. D. ., Amin, A., & Nurhayati, T. . (2025). Does Colonization Affect Growth? An Empirical Comparative ‎Study of Nine Asian Countries. International Journal of Accounting and Economics Studies, 12(7), 505-515. https://doi.org/10.14419/nm5x4s21