R. Bin Wong

Revising the Malthusian narrative: the comparative study of population dynamics in late imperial China.

Ever since Malthus it has become common practice to perceive Chinese and European pre-industrial demographic systems as opposing archetypes. Europes system was characterized by moderate population growth fertility control keyed to economic conditions and favorable living standards. However China had rapid growth periodic mortality crises and a precarious balance of population and resources. While there is some variation in the approaches and vocabularies which reflect disciplinary divisions and recognition of the variability of institutions within Europe and China the contrast persists in the demographic and historical literatures. The continued existence of this contrast is important because Malthusian dynamics underlie a popular and persuasive set of explanations for the divergent paths of Chinese and European economies and societies of the industrial era. Drawing upon both old and new evidence upon demography and economy in late imperial times the authors challenge the conventional dichotomy and its empirical underpinnings.

Tax resistance, economy and state transformation in China and Europe

Abstract. This article considers the distinct ways in which Chinese and European governments have historically approached taxation. The similarities of popular resistance in both regions to taxation deemed illegitimate contrast with the diverse solutions to tax collection put forward under varied political systems. Differences in state relations with elites, the intensity of demands for revenues and the kinds of strategies developed to secure additional funding contribute to the definition of distinct patterns of political change. Tax operations can therefore serve as a useful diagnostic for comparing broader economic and political developments in China and Europe over the past several centuries.

Chinese Economic History and Development: A Note on the Myers-Huang Exchange

Ramon myers recently reviewed in this journal four books analyzing Chinas prewar economy and Philip Huang added a reply to some of Myerss criticisms. They clearly disagree about how best to characterize Chinas Republican-period economy. Myers suggests that books by Loren Brandt, David Faure, and Thomas Rawski collectively reveal different aspects of modern economic development, while Huang presents the concept of “involutionary growth” as a means of understanding the economic situation. In response, Philip Huang corrects what he takes as misrepresentations of his argument by Myers through a restatement of his major themes.

Before and Beyond Divergence: A New Look at the Economic History of China and Europe

This chapter has two purposes: we wish to introduce our new book, Before and Beyond Divergence; the Politics of Economic Change in China and Europe (Rosenthal and Wong 2011) to an audience that would not otherwise encounter it, and we also wish to make the claim that the important methodological and substantive issues uncovered by our comparative economic history of China and Europe are relevant to current economic analysis. Why did China decline after 1400 only to reestablish itself as a major presence in the global economy after 1980? Why did Europe, a region torn by strife and suffering and economic collapse after the fall of the Roman Empire, become the birthplace of modern economic growth? These two questions are at the forefront of research in economic history. Answering them does not merely satisfy an academic curiosity; it also matters for understanding how the world is changing today.