This thesis analyses the production and trade of palm oil and rubber from the plantations of East Sumatra in the late colonial period. The aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, it shows that the...Show moreThis thesis analyses the production and trade of palm oil and rubber from the plantations of East Sumatra in the late colonial period. The aim of this thesis is twofold. Firstly, it shows that the production of palm oil and rubber in East Sumatra was strongly integrated into the world market and that its evolution was dictated by the Western economies and industries. Secondly, this thesis reconstructs the value distribution and creation within the value chain and shows that the majority of the value creation of soap (a palm oil product) lay in Indonesia, whereas the majority of the value creation of a rubber tyre lay in the West.Show less