Before and Beyond Divergence: The Politics of Economic Change in China and Europe

Jean-Laurent Rosenthal; Roy Bin Wong

Published by Harvard University Press 2011

Before and Beyond Divergence

The Politics of Economic Change in China and Europe

Jean-Laurent Rosenthal and Roy Bin Wong

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674061293

About this book

China has reemerged as a powerhouse in the global economy, reviving a classic question in economic history: why did sustained economic growth arise in Europe rather than in China?

Many favor cultural and environmental explanations of the nineteenth-century economic divergence between Europe and the rest of the world. This book, the product of over twenty years of research, takes a sharply different tack. It argues that political differences which crystallized well before 1800 were responsible both for China’s early and more recent prosperity and for Europe’s difficulties after the fall of the Roman Empire and during early industrialization.

Rosenthal and Wong show that relative prices matter to how economies evolve; institutions can have a large effect on relative prices; and the spatial scale of polities can affect the choices of institutions in the long run. Their historical perspective on institutional change has surprising implications for understanding modern transformations in China and Europe and for future expectations. It also yields insights in comparative economic history, essential to any larger social science account of modern world history.

Author / Editor information

Rosenthal Jean-Laurent :

Jean-Laurent Rosenthal is the Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics at the California Institute of Technology.Wong R. Bin :

R. Bin Wong is Professor of History and Director of the Asia Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction: Miracles, Myths, and Explanations in Economic History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 Space and Politics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
2 Population, Resources, and Economic Growth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
3 Formal and Informal Mechanisms for Market Development Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
4 Warfare, Location of Manufacturing, and Economic Growth in China and Europe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	99
5 Credit Markets and Economic Change Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
6 Autocrats, War, Taxes, and Public Goods Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
7 Political Economies of Growth, 1500– 1950 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
Conclusion: Findings, Methods, and Implications Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 290
Illustrations
- Other: 4 maps, 3 tables

eBook

Published: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 9780674061293