FOREIGN THREATS, TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS AND THE RISE AND DECLINE OF IMPERIAL CHINA

This paper addresses why technological progress occurred off‐and‐on in Imperial China but came to a standstill at around the time of the European Renaissance, leading to the decline of Imperial China. We suggest that the threat of war could have induced innovative activities as well as the accumulat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPacific economic review (Oxford, England) Vol. 17; no. 2; pp. 280 - 303
Main Authors CHAN, KENNETH S., LAFFARGUE, JEAN-PIERRE
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Publishing Asia 01.05.2012
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Wiley
Subjects
Economic history
Economics and Finance
Humanities and Social Sciences
Imperialism
Studies
Technological change
War
China
Imperial Chin
Innovation
Merchant class
Threats of war
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Summary:This paper addresses why technological progress occurred off‐and‐on in Imperial China but came to a standstill at around the time of the European Renaissance, leading to the decline of Imperial China. We suggest that the threat of war could have induced innovative activities as well as the accumulation of public capital, which led to the development of a modern sector in Imperial China. Using numerical simulation, we find a stagnated equilibrium in an agrarian economy under low threats of war and another with a high level of technological knowledge, public capital and a vibrant modern sector under strong threats. Long periods of peace would have the opposite effect. Some supportive historical evidence from urbanization is provided.
Bibliography:ark:/67375/WNG-QW2WWMJM-C
ArticleID:PAER583
istex:D60688D0894449EC7EB73BC6992DE19BA824E7D0
ISSN:1361-374X
1468-0106
DOI:10.1111/j.1468-0106.2012.00583.x