Abstract
The proposed research program studies the impact of private foreign investment on development in Indonesia during the years c. 1910-1960. Point of departure is that the colonial setting, arguably prevailing until the late 1950s, offered an environment highly conducive to investment by foreign firms, in particular from the (one-time) metropolitan mother-country. The impact of such investment, for better or worse, is identified with respect to both economic performance and effects on society at large. The research program, therefore, unveils an important part of the legacy bequeathed by the Netherlands to Indonesia. The program will produce two PhD dissertations, a database and a synthesis based on an international conference.