The_Open_Door_deel1

XII
the more so, since no comprehensive study of the country's Open
Door Policy was ever carried out. Moreover, what was written
on this topic or on subjects related to it, is either outdated
or deals only with one majop company.
Tarpeh, from Liberia, wrote two very informative studies: one
article on Firestone, covering only the six year period from
1966 through 1971, and a very voluminous and detailed work on
the Liberian American-Swedish Minerals Company (the LAMCO Joint
Venture) 1963 - 1976. The German investments in the Deutsch-
Liberian Mining Company (Delimco), today called Bong Mining Company,
were very ably studied by Coale from the U.S.A. (1977).
Carlsson from Sweden, in 1980, published a very readable comparative
study on Liberia's four iron ore mining companies and the
gold mining companies operating in Ghana.
Two I.iberians, Sherman and Duncan Grimes, both wrote unpublished
theses on "Foreign Investments and Economic Development" and on
"Economic Development in Liberia", respectively, which today
have historic value chiefly since they date from 1948 and 1955,
respectively.
More informative and comprehensive studies were carried out by
McLaughlin and by the Northwestern University Group (Clower
et al), both from the U.S.A., but their discussions on the foreign
participation in the Liberian economy date from the early
1960's. In spite of this limiting aspect, the work of the Northwestern
University Group in particular is to be considered a
standard work since it is the first Economic Survey of Liberia
ever published (1966). Another standard work on the Liberian
economy is Brown's, though it hardly concerns the activities of
foreiga investors since it was written before the Tubman Administration
(1941).
More recently, Hinzen and Kappel, from the Federal Republic of
Germany, in a.book on the Political Economy of Liberia published
two specific studies which dealt with foreign investments. One
dealt with the iron ore mining industry and was written by
Carlsson, and the other was on Firestone, by the present author
(1980).
Two authors, Akpan, a Nigerian, and Kappel, a German, published
papers on the Liberian Economy during the 19th and 20th centuries
although their works do not center on the role of foreign investors
(12).
The present study is the first which analyses, from an historical
point of view, the introduction of an Open Door Policy in Liberia
and which includes virtually all concession agreements granted
to foreign investors by the Government of Liberia for the exploitation
of the country's natural resources. The occasional elaborate
discussion of the preparation of concession agreements, the
comparison of the various agreements, and the study of the companies'
operations are mainly based on authentic material found
in the National Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and