History of Regional Trade in Southeast Asia

Singapore as an Entrepot
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-09223-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 214 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Reihe: Perspectives in Economic and Social History

This book explores maritime Southeast Asia’s trade development during the long 19th century, with a focus on the role of Singapore as a regional trade hub. Classical literature attributes the trade growth in modern Southeast Asia to the progress of Western colonization and assumed Singapore’s prosperity as a result of her status as a free port-city for British economic influence over Asia. Challenging this conventional historiography, this monograph sheds fresh light on the role of Singapore as a global entrepôt.

A series of quantitative and qualitative analyses reveal that intra-Southeast Asian trade grew based on Singapore’s entrepôt functions, such as its ability to act as a financial hub for multilateral trade settlements. Drawing on Singapore’s foreign trade-statistics, including statistics of monetary imports and exports, particularly of silver, and augmented with other quantitative and qualitative sources of newspapers, where available, the book provides readers with a new understanding of Singapore’s role in intra-regional trade.

In addition to Southeast Asian economic historians, this book will also appeal to those working on wider themes such as global history, maritime Asian trade, and colonialism.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kobayashi, Atsushi

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Internationale Wirtschaft Entwicklungsökonomie & Emerging Markets

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction: Modern Global Economy, Regional Trading System, and Entrepôt. Part I: Emergence of the Lion City and Intra-Regional Trade 1. Origins of Singapore’s Prosperity: Entrepôt for the Pre-1820 Intra-Asian Trade 2. Emerging Singapore: Quantification of Southeast Asian Trade, 1828–1873 3. Evolution of Intra-regional Trade Centred on Singapore, 1874–1913 Part II: Commodity Circulation, Merchants’ Businesses, and Market Integration 4. Formation of the Entrepôt System in Singapore: Trade of Cotton Goods and Southeast Asian Products, 1830–1870 5. Intra-Regional Market Integration via Singapore: Development of Rice Trade, 1828–1870 6. From Entrepôt to Staple Port: Macroeconomic Transformation and Mercantile Adaptation Part III: Money Flows, Settlement System, and Macroeconomic Adjustment 7. Entrepôt Settlement System: Development of Money Supply and Foreign Exchange in the Mid-Nineteenth Century 8. Bimetallic Exchange Rates in Singapore: Adjustment for the Balance of Payment and Bullion Market in the Mid-Nineteenth Century 9. Money, Price, and Gains of Intra-Regional Trade: Purchasing Power Parity and Terms of Trade. Conclusions: The Rise of Global Entrepôt

Über Autor(innen)

Atsushi Kobayashi is Associate Professor at Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya University, Japan. His research into Asian economic history has been granted by funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), Suntory Foundation, and JFE 21st Century Foundation.