Authors

Agzamkhon Niyazkhodjayev¹;  ¹ Free University of Berlin, Germany

Discussion

This paper sheds light on the multifaceted effects of Russia's early colonial rule in Turkestan during the 1894–1913 years. Drawing evidence from a unique archival dataset, I investigate how cotton production and colonization shaped the region's socio-economic development. To this day, the Central Asia part of Tsarist Russia has not been empirically examined, making this paper a pioneering effort to address a prominent gap in the current academic debates. This research is especially essential as it investigates a previously unexplored aspect of economic history, contributing to broader discussions on the impact of cotton and colonialism on the development of Central Asia. The various econometric techniques, including ordinary least squares, two-stage least squares instrumental variables, propensity score matching, coarsened exact matching, and arbitrary correlation regression models were employed to ensure the robustness and reliability of the empirical analysis. The findings reveal the adverse impact of cotton production on economic development while reporting a positive influence on the expansion of local schools. However, the significance of cotton production varies depending on the variations in spatial correlation radius between districts. On the other hand, colonization indicates a positive effect on the establishment of factories and a negative influence on the development of local education infrastructure. It is salient to acknowledge that this research has limitations, primarily related to the scope of the available archival dataset. Nevertheless, these outcomes have the potential to explain the development trajectory of Central Asia and create a framework for future research devoted to the socio-economic development of Central Asia under Russian rule.