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  5. The Rise and Fall of Imperial China (and Beyond)
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The Rise and Fall of Imperial China (and Beyond)

Paper Session

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST)

Hosted By: Association for Comparative Economic Studies
  • Chair: James Kai-sing Kung, University of Hong Kong

Millet, Rice, and Isolation: Origins and Persistence of the World's Most Enduring Mega-State

Ömer Özak
,
Southern Methodist University
James Kai-sing Kung
,
University of Hong Kong
Louis Putterman
,
Brown University
Shuang Shi
,
University of Hong Kong

Abstract

We propose and empirically test a theory for the endogenous formation and persistence of large states, using China as an example. We suggest that the relative timing of the emergence of agricultural societies and their distance to each other set off a race between autochthonous state-building projects and the expansion of neighboring (proto-)states. Using a novel dataset on the Chinese state's historical presence, the timing of agricultural adoption, social complexity, climate, and geography across 1x1 degree grid cells in East Asia, we provide empirical support for this hypothesis. Specifically, we find that on average, cells that adopted agriculture earlier or were close to the earliest archaic state in East Asia (Erlitou) remained longer under Sinitic control. In contrast, earlier adoption of agriculture decreased the persistent control of the Chinese state in cells farther than 2.8 weeks of travel from Erlitou.

Economic Changes in China: The Role of Institutions and Ideology

Debin Ma
,
London School of Economics

Abstract

How and why did political and economic changes take place at all in modern China under a political regime dominated by an imperial absolutism? One common explanation is the onset of Western imperial challenges. However, I show that the 1842 Opium War did not exert the kind of ideological transformation as the 1894-96 did because China’s ideological transformation occurred in the latter period through the intermediary of Japan’s successful Meiji reform in both institutions and ideology. By highlighting the importance of institutions and ideology and their interaction in a feedback loop as critical elements accounting for the remarkable transformations as well as great inertia of Chinese response to Western or modernization challenges, and presenting new time series of economic statistics, this paper provides a new periodization of Chinese history by linking ideological changes with economic (institutional) change and political reforms.

Foreign Education, Ideology and the Fall of Imperial China

James Kai-sing Kung
,
University of Hong Kong
Alina Yue Wang
,
University of Hong Kong

Abstract

It has long been accepted that education is an important determinant of economic growth. What is less often observed is that, through indoctrination, education can also shape preferences and ideology. Using the 1911 Chinese Revolution as example, we demonstrate how the Qing government’s intention to acquire knowledge useful for state building by sending students to study in Japan led to unexpected political consequences. By using the number of Chinese students in Japan as a proxy for the effects of foreign education, we show that counties with a higher density of overseas students had significantly higher participation in political parties, greater representation in electoral politics, and were more likely to declare independence from the Qing government. The content of education also mattered; political activism was significantly stronger in counties where more students studied arts and social sciences subjects. Schools and newspapers were the channels through which the ideology of nationalism was diffused.
Discussant(s)
Ola Olsson
,
University of Gothenburg
Joel Mokyr
,
Northwestern University
Ruixue Jia
,
University of California-San Diego
JEL Classifications
  • N0 - General
  • O5 - Economywide Country Studies