Reading the economic history of Afghanistan

Roy, Tirthankar ORCID: 0000-0002-4183-2781 (2020) Reading the economic history of Afghanistan. Economic History Working Papers (309). London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

Twentieth-century Afghanistan offers a lesson for the historian of comparative economic development. Two conditions help to understand Afghan history better, resource poverty and the absence of European colonial rule. In a resource-poor region, the possibility of rapid economic change depends to a great extent on the capability and stability of the states; at the same time, attempts to create strong centres of power with a weak tax base can generate debilitating conflicts. European colonialists in some cases managed to overcome the dilemma. In the absence of colonialism, old elites and old rivalries survived and intensified the conflict. These two features appeared in the histories of many of the world’s poor regions. They shaped the process of economic and political change in Afghanistan with great force.

Item Type:	Monograph (Working Paper)
Official URL:	https://www.lse.ac.uk/Economic-History/Working-Pap...
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Author
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions D History General and Old World > DS Asia
JEL classification:	N - Economic History > N4 - Government, War, Law, and Regulation > N45 - Asia including Middle East N - Economic History > N5 - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries > N55 - Asia including Middle East O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O5 - Economywide Country Studies > O53 - Asia including Middle East P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P16 - Political Economy
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2020 08:48
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 19:35
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/106957

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