This dissertation studies three important questions in international political economy: The long run consequences of social divisions created by historical colonialism, the importance of trade shocks in shifting political power balances and shaping institutional development and the influence that major political powers have over the decisions of smaller nations. I study these three questions empirically in four papers that span three distinct regions and time periods. The first paper asks whether the large differences in economic development across Native American reservations today can be explained by social divisions that were created more than 150 years ago when the US government forcibly integrated distinct Native American bands into shared reservations, condemning them to a system of shared governance that was not consistent with their political traditions and tribal identities. The second and third papers study the effect of the first globalization on the political and economic equilibrium in seventeen 19th century British Caribbean plantation colonies. I use this set of highly comparable but in precise ways distinct islands as a laboratory to study the effect of globalization on the long run development of representative institutions and on the coerciveness of labour markets at the time. The first of two papers provides insights into the working of colonial institutions and traces the mechanisms through which the planter elite managed to maintain a monopoly over policy making and retard long run development. The second paper highlights the importance that exogenous output price changes had for the willingness of planter elites to engage in costly coercion that distorted labour markets in their favour. In the final paper I test whether major aid donors use foreign aid to buy the votes of developing countries. Taking advantage of a unique long-running dispute between major donors in the International Whaling Commission, I am able to address the three major empirical challenges in answering this question: that aid moves much slower than voting behaviour, that alliances constantly change with issues and that most international organizations vote frequently and on a range of issues while data on aid disbursals is available only in yearly aggregates.

International political economy scholarship largely focuses on the motivations and determinants of FDI flows and their effects on economic wellbeing, stability and peace. An overlooked question, however, is the restrictions of inward FDI. Extant research widely regards national security and economic security as the justifications for FDI restriction. This is an oversight because there is a broad overlap in conceptualizations of national security and economic security. In this thesis I study the phenomenon of the use of the concept “critical industry” to justify FDI restrictions. I investigate eight cases of restricted FDI transactions occurred in China and the United States between 2005 and 2012, and the relevant institutions and practices of both countries. This study argues that the protection of critical industry is the key driver of inward FDI restrictions and that the security of critical industry is better understood to protect individual industries, defense-sensitive industries, critical infrastructures, and industries pertaining to regime-security. / Graduate

This thesis examines the nature of the transformations engendered under the impact of the demands of the state and European merchants' . capital within the colonial political economy of Northern Nigeria until 1939. It examines, in'particular, the effect 'of these transformations upon three groups: the peasantry, the merchant class and the aristocracy. It is placed within the current debate on the nature and impact of European capital, operating within an imperial framework, on the political economy of colonies. It seeks to analyse the dialectical effect of the intercourse of European merchants' capital with peasant producers, indigenous merchant and an indigenous ruling class incorporated within the colonial system of administration. Beginning with an examination of the basic pre-colonial economic structures (peasant and slave agriculture, long-distance and internal trade and manufacture) it analyses the immediate effects of the subordination of the pre-colonial state structure under the colonial state, and of the colonial states' policies towards land;~labour and taxation. It then examines peasant involvement in the increased'. production of export commodities, and the role of European, Levantine and African merchant capital in the trade. It then examines the effect of this involvement on the structUre of peasant relations of production, and finally examines the implications of intensified export commodity production within the wider context of a maturing colonial economy. It concludes that the twin demands to ensure initial political control and financial solvency by the state combined with the existence of a form of capital that intensified pettycommo~ ity production to create in Northern Nigeria a state system centred around:a class of non-producers, committed to a controlled, guided change, dependent upon surplus from a peasantry, and class relations that aimed at perpet~ating the political subordination of the peasantry. Material for the thesis vas gathered from actual sources in the' National Archives,'Kaduna, Nigeria, Public Records Office in London, and from published boQks and journals from the University of Sussex, England.

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This dissertation presents an analysis of the impacts of trade policy reforms in Sri Lanka. A Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model is constructed with detailed description of the domestic production structure and foreign trade. The model is then used to investigate the effects of trade policy reforms on resource allocation and welfare. Prior to 1977, Sri Lanka maintained stringent control over its imports through rigid quantitative restrictions. A new economic policy reform package was introduced in 1977, and it shifted Sri Lanka's development strategy toward an export oriented policy regime. The shift of policy focus from a restrictive trade regime toward a more open trade regime is expected to have a significant impact on the volume of external trade, domestic production structure, allocation of resources, and social welfare. Simulations are carried out to assess the effects of three major policy reforms: (1) a devaluation of the Sri Lanka rupee, (2) a partial or a complete elimination of export duties, and (3) a devaluation-cum-removal of export duties. Simulation results indicate that the macroeconomic impact of a devaluation-cum-removal of export duties can be substantial. They also suggest that the resource-pull effects of a devaluation and a devaluation-cum-export duty removal policy are significant. However, the model shows that a devaluation combined with an export duty reduction is likely to be a superior strategy.

The objective of this study was to provide empirical evidence on the effects of relative price uncertainty and political instability on private investment. My effort is expressed in a single-equation model using macroeconomic and socio-political data from eight Latin American countries for the period 1970-1996. Relative price uncertainty is measured by the implied volatility of the exchange rate and political instability is measured by using indicators of social unrest and political violence. I found that, after controlling for other variables, relative price uncertainty and political instability are negatively associated with private investment. Macroeconomic and political stability are key ingredients for the achievement of a strong investment response. This highlights the need to develop the state and build a civil society in which citizens can participate in decision-making and express consent without generating social turmoil. At the same time the government needs to implement structural policies along with relative price adjustments to eliminate excess volatility in price movements in order to provide a stable environment for investment.