Traps Embraced or Escaped : Elites in the Economic Development of Modern Japan and China

by Mosk, Carl

• ISBN13: 9789814287524
• ISBN10: 9814287520
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-02-11
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc

Summary

This book explores economic development in East Asia between 1870 and 1953 in terms of escaping or succumbing to four interrelated traps: demographic; political; economic; and cultural. Demographic traps include Malthusian traps and poor health and longevity (measured by anthropometric indicators and life expectancy). Political traps include both domestic traps — corruption, internal conflict — and external traps, namely geopolitical traps involving foreign powers. Economic traps include poor infrastructure (banks, harbors, roads, railroads, steam shipping, hydroelectric power) or raw materials, or glaring regional variation in per capita income – all significant barriers to industrialization. Cultural traps include restrictions on permissible knowledge”, and linguistic barriers to the culture of discourse in science and engineering which restrained the absorbing and diffusion of knowledge from foreign sources. Using Japan and China as examples, this book demonstrates how the four types of traps dynamically interact with one another, and how one of the two countries — Japan — was able to escape from the traps earlier than the other country, China. The book also explores the implications of the argument for post-1950 economic development in East Asia.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
A Note on Transcription	p. ix
List of Charts and Tables	p. xv
Introduction
The Argument	p. 3
Elites and Traps	p. 17
The Fundamental Transformation of Labor Surplus Economies	p. 17
Elites Competing and cooperating	p. 23
Traps	p. 33
The Erosion of Elite Status	p. 39
Co-evolution	p. 41
Appendix: The Fundamental Growth Equation	p. 43
Coping with the Western Challenge, 1840-1911
Qing China, 1840-1911	p. 47
Elites in Qing China	p. 47
The western Challenge	p. 56
Qing Response	p. 62
Tokugawa and Meiji Japan	p. 70
In Two Mirros	p. 70
Elites in Tokugawa Japan	p. 72
The Meiji Restoration	p. 79
Traps, 1910-1955
Growth Acceleration in Japan, 1910-1938	p. 89
Agriculture and the Decline of a Rural Elite	p. 89
Infrastructure and Urbanization	p. 92
Manufacturing	p. 95
The Demographic Transition Commences	p. 97
The Disintegration of the fukoku kyohei Consensus	p. 100
Agriculture and Industrialization in Republican China, 1911-1935	p. 108
A Divided Elite	p. 108
Landlordism and Surplus Labor in Rural China	p. 113
Manufacturing Expansion in Shanghai and Manchuria	p. 116
Regional Fissures	p. 119
Militarism, 1930-1945	p. 126
A Changing Geopolitical Environment	p. 126
Nationalism and Anti-Imperialism in China	p. 129
Japan's Drive to Hegemony in Asia	p. 132
Surrender	p. 136
Consequences, 1945-2005
Elites in Decline	p. 143
Elites Disappearing and Emerging in Japan, 1945-1960	p. 143
Elites Disappearing and Emerging in China, 1945-1960	p. 147
China in the Japanese Mirror: Similarities and Dissimilarities	p. 149
Miracle Growth and Its Aftermath in japan	p. 156
The Main Characteristics of Miracle Growth	p. 156
Productivity Gain in Agriculture	p. 162
Productivity Gain in Manufacturing	p. 163
Struggling with the Legacy of Miracle Growth, 1975-2005	p. 169
Commond and Control and Its Aftermath in China	p. 176
The Main Characteristics of Command and Control in China	p. 176
Productivity Gain in Agriculture	p. 181
Productivity Gain in Manufacturing	p. 185
Struggling with the Legacy of the Command and Control Period	p. 187
Conclusions	p. 191
Statistical Appendix	p. 195
Bibliography	p. 245
Index	p. 255
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