Comparative Economic History Research Articles

Synthetic Control Method: A tool for comparative case studies in economic history

AbstractThe Synthetic Control Method (SCM) has become a widely used tool in both identifying and estimating the causal impact of policies, shocks, and interventions of interest on economic and social outcomes. The technique has become particularly popular in estimating the effect of these shocks on a single treated unit. As a transparent and data‐driven statistical technique, the goal of the SCM is to construct an artificial control group for the treated unit that has similar pretreatment characteristics but has not undergone the treatment itself thus developing a plausible counterfactual against which impacts resulting from structural changes can be evaluated as part of a historical investigation. The method works well when the control group balances pre‐intervention outcomes and auxiliary covariates as much as possible. In spite of its widespread adoption, the use of the SCM in comparative economic history has lagged behind other areas of economics. In this article, we critically review the properties of the SCM and discuss the necessary conditions for a plausible application of the technique to comparative economic history in support of research designed to answer some of the long‐running historical questions and demonstrate the potential to use SCM in comparative economic history studies by estimating the impact of the oil discovery in the 1920s on Venezuela's long‐term economic growth.

Synthetic Control Estimator: A Tool for Comparative Case Studies in Economic History

The Synthetic Control Method has become a widely used tool in estimating the causal impact of policies, shocks and interventions of interest on economic and social outcomes. The technique has become particularly popular in estimating the effect of these shocks on a single treated unit. As a transparent and data-driven statistical technique, the goal of the Synthetic Control Method is to construct an artificial control group for the treated unit that has similar pre-treatment characteristics but has not undergone the treatment itself. The synthetic control technique works well when the control group balances pre-intervention outcomes and auxiliary covariates as much as possible. In spite of its widespread adoption, the use of the Synthetic Control Method in comparative economic history has lagged behind other areas of economics. In this article, we critically review the properties of the Synthetic Control Method and discuss the necessary conditions for a plausible application of the technique to comparative economic history in support of research designed to answer some of the long-running historical questions.

The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century by Richard von Glahn

Reviewed by: The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century by Richard von Glahn Y. Joy Chen and Avner Greif The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century by Richard von Glahn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. Pp. xiv + 461. $105.00 cloth, $40.99 paper, $32.00 ebook. The Economic History of China is a survey of the economic outcomes and development in China throughout the past three millennia: from the Bronze Age (1045 bce) to the fall of the Qing dynasty (1912 ce). Richard von Glahn has arguably produced the best such comprehensive survey in English, and it is a must-read for scholars interested in Chinese economic history, the Great Divergence debate, and comparative economic history. This work challenges the false-yet-persistent notion that the Chinese economy was suffocated by an “oriental despot” state and its conservative inhabitants resisted markets. Instead, von Glahn depicts a dynamic market economy in which the state promoted markets and economic agents pursued market opportunities. China’s technology, economic activities, and institutions constantly evolved in response to policy and market prices. Another goal of this book is to establish the historical continuity of many of China’s economic and political institutions. Von Glahn promotes interpretations of such institutions in light of the historical contexts and circumstances in which they arose and, at times, compares them with contemporary European institutions. He maintains prudent objectivity on issues that are subject to active debate by presenting a wide range of scholarly opinions. This ambitious volume examines the economic and political history of preimperial China (prior to 222 bce) and of every imperial [End Page 576] dynasty from the Qin (221–206 bce) to the Qing (1644–1912). One of its key strengths lies in its extensive coverage of the preimperial period and the early empires of the Qin and Han. This period receives relatively little attention in the currently fashionable quantitative economic history literature due to the scarcity of numerical data. Von Glahn draws instead on qualitative historical sources and archaeological findings to fill in some missing pieces in our comprehension of early China. Chapters 1 and 2 of The Economic History of China reconstruct the political and economic landscape of the Zhou dynasty by masterly combining evidence from inscriptions, habitation sites, and classical texts. The chapters then discuss the patrimonial and ritual elements of the Western Zhou administration (1045–771 bce), examine China’s transformation from a patrimonial to a bureaucratic state between 770 bce and 221 bce, and present evidence regarding industrial production, circulation of money, and city structures. The discussion highlights that during the Warring States period, important and persistent components of the Chinese political order emerged. Among these were bureaucratic institutions and the Legalist and Confucian conceptualizations of the ideal state. Similarly, it was then that the conjugal household became the basic unit of production, taxation, corvée labor, and military conscription. Chapter 3 analyzes the impact of this institutional legacy during the Han empire (202 bce–220 ce), and chapter 4 examines changes in farming techniques that were important for the transition from agricultural production based on family farms to production based on a manor system. In particular, the policies of Emperor Wu of Han 漢武帝 (r. 141–87 bce) favored large estates and promoted agricultural techniques that “required substantial investments in tools, livestock, and water control” (p. 133). The discussion does not mention that at this time regulatory restrictions on households’ land ownership were abolished.1 The rise of wealthy landowners negatively influenced the authority of local state officials and was a main factor causing the period of disunion from 220 to 589 ce. Families holding large estates gained the power to select state officials. Powerful magnate families [End Page 577] became hereditary officeholders through the end of the Tang dynasty (ca. 907 ce). Chapter 5 focuses on political stabilization and state rebuilding, particularly during the Sui (581–618) and the Tang (618–907) dynasties. It first discusses how the institutional reforms undertaken by the Northern Wei dynasty (386–534) facilitated the reunification of China by the Sui in 589. The most important reforms include the equal-field system and the garrison militias...

比較経済史の再検討 : 「東アジア型発展径路」の概念的,歴史的,政策的含意

比較経済史の再検討 : 「東アジア型発展径路」の概念的,歴史的,政策的含意

Divergence and Convergence: New and Shifting Paradigms in Comparative Economic History

Our understanding of comparative economic development has been heightened by recent advances in the historical literature, particularly in the Great Divergence debate. Broad geographical comparisons, extended time periods, and the diverse and contested tools of measurement have all enriched the context of the comparative literature. Revisiting the discussion of causality – long‐term preconditions versus shorter‐term contingencies – provides additional insights into the volition of human actors, especially households and governments. It also helps to unpack the nature of ‘institutions’, a term that has suffered from bifurcation into good or bad and whose deeper components have been insufficiently analysed.

The Rise and Fall of Indian Economic History 1920–2013

ABSTRACTThe number of original articles published in Indian economic history shows a boom in the 1980s ending in a recession from the 1990s. The paper surveys the evolution of the field and explores the reasons behind these tendencies. It concludes that the trends reflect shifts in the popularity of archives-based research on economic issues among historians in India. Following on from a rise in the 1980s, in the last 20 years, cultural history crowded out economic history, and debates about the process of long-term economic change became rare. More recently, the link between comparative economic growth and Indian history has strengthened, leading to a modest revival.

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson. Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. Pp. x, 417. $40, cloth.

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson. Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. Pp. x, 417. $40, cloth. - Volume 69 Issue 3

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honour of Jeffrey G. Williamson

Australian Economic History ReviewVolume 49, Issue 2 p. 216-218 The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honour of Jeffrey G. Williamson Lyndon Moore, Lyndon Moore University of MontrealSearch for more papers by this author Lyndon Moore, Lyndon Moore University of MontrealSearch for more papers by this author First published: 22 June 2009 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8446.2009.00255.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume49, Issue2July 2009Pages 216-218 RelatedInformation

The ‘reversal of fortune’ thesis and the compression of history: Perspectives from African and comparative economic history

AbstractAcemoglu, Johnson and Robinson have dramatically challenged the tendency of economists to confine their empirical search for the causes of economic growth to the recent past. They argue that the kind of institutions established by European colonialists,eitherprotecting private propertyorextracting rents, resulted in the poorer parts of the pre‐colonial world becoming some of the richest economies of today; while transforming some of the more prosperous parts of the non‐European world of 1500 into the poorest economies today. This view has been further elaborated for Africa by Nunn, with reference to slave trading. Drawing on African and comparative economic historiography, the present paper endorses the importance of examining growth theories against long‐term history: revealing relationships that recur because the situations are similar, as well as because of path dependence as such. But it also argues that the causal relationships involved are more differentiated than is recognised in AJR's formulations. By compressing different historical periods and paths, the ‘reversal’ thesis over‐simplifies the causation. Relatively low labour productivity was a premise of the external slave trades; though the latter greatly reinforced the relative poverty of many Sub‐Saharan economies. Again, it is important to distinguish settler and non‐settler economieswithincolonial Africa itself. In the latter case it was in the interests of colonial regimes to support, rather than simply extract from, African economic enterprise. Finally, economic rent and economic growth have often been joint products, including in pre‐colonial and colonial Africa; the kinds of institutions that favoured economic growth in certain historical contexts were not necessarily optimal for that purpose in others. AJR have done much to bring development economics and economic history together. The next step is a more flexible conceptual framework, and a more complex explanation. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The new comparative economic history: essays in honour of Jeffrey G. Williamson - Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor

The new comparative economic history: essays in honour of Jeffrey G. Williamson - Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor

Chinese economic performance in the long run

This book is unique in its depth of perspective. It uses a comparative approach to explain why China’s role in the world economy has changed so dramatically in the last thousand years. It concludes that China is likely to resume its natural role as the world’s largest economy by the year 2015, thus regaining the position it had held until the end of the nineteenth century. The study provides a major reassessment of the scale and scope of China’s resurgence over the past half century, employing quantitative measurement techniques which are standard practice in OECD countries, but which have not hitherto been available for China. Written by the author of many studies on comparative economic history, including two best sellers for the OECD Development Centre, this book is essential reading for all those who seek to understand the role of China in the world economy, in the past, as well as in the present and the future.

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson‐ Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O’Rourke and Alan M. Taylor

article reviews the book The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson, edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson. Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, x + 417 pp. References, notes, index. Cloth, $40.00. ISBN: 978–0–262–08361–4.

The New Comparative Economic History: Essays in Honor of Jeffrey G. Williamson. Edited by Timothy J. Hatton, Kevin H. O'Rourke, and Alan M. Taylor. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, x + 417 pp. References, notes, index. Cloth, $40.00. ISBN: 978–0–262–08361–4.

Eurasian Historical Comparisons

The article discusses the conceptual and methodological challenges of comparative economic history, focusing on recent debates concerning alternative pathways of development in Europe and Asia, the agricultural systems of early modern England and the lower Yangzi region in China, and the historical demography of Eurasia. The article concludes that such debates support the perspective that there is substantial path dependency and contingency in economic history and that alternative development paths can be discerned across and within Europe and Asia.

Real wages in the period of the Industrial Revolution in Japan : a comparative economic history approach

Real wages in the period of the Industrial Revolution in Japan : a comparative economic history approach

History of International Trade and Comparative Economic History. A Reply to the Criticism by Professor BABA Satoshi on a Recent Book

History of International Trade and Comparative Economic History. A Reply to the Criticism by Professor BABA Satoshi on a Recent Book

Negocios y política en tiempos de Guzmán Blanco

Originally published in 1991, this second edition boasts a new index, an updated bibliography, and some minor textual clarifications. (The edition unfortunately is flawed by mismatched citation and footnote numbers between pages 178 and 240.) González Deluca argues that Venezuela’s president Antonio Guzmán Blanco (1870–88) understood that he could enrich himself and promote national economic development at the same time. Demonstrably, he and his cronies achieved more success in the first goal than in the second. A few individuals became wealthy, but the nation experienced economic stagnation and accumulated a crippling national debt. Investment in minerals and river transport provided more opportunity for personal graft and arguably harmed the national economy less than investment in railroads did. Caracas offered a 7 percent guaranteed return on capital invested in the railroad companies in order to attract foreign investment. Most Venezuelan rail lines failed to achieve such a return once they were in operation, so the nation increasingly fell into debt to the companies, contributing to the national crises of the 1890s. The author blames neither Guzmán nor foreign investors for Venezuela’s failure to derive more benefit from its first stage of modernization. She concludes that in spite of the red ink in the nation’s accounts, Venezuela received an indirect blessing from the new technology, labor systems, and heightened activity that came from the investments.González Deluca explores the tantalizing question of why the railroads benefited Venezuela’s economy so little. She rejects the charge that the investments themselves were inefficient, irrational, improvised, or poorly planned, and she compares them favorably with some other Latin American railroads. One of the few profitable lines, the Caracas–La Guaira railroad, made its money by importing items from the coast to Caracas. When bumper local crops flooded the city, or when a brewery opened in Caracas in 1891, imports dropped and the railroad’s accounts suffered. In spite of the deficits, González Deluca argues that the accounts of the Caracas–La Guaira railroad resembled those of Brazil’s São Paulo–Santos line. British investors, however, had more confidence in Brazil and valued those shares more highly. The author has consulted voluminous archival sources, principally in England and in the Fundación Boulton in Caracas, valuable both for the records of the Boulton commercial house and for the Archivo Guzmán Blanco. The Boulton commercial house worked closely with Guzmán both in his personal and national business activities, and the archive is invaluable for late-nineteenth-century economic history.The author provides a clear and compelling account of business and politics in Guzmán’s Venezuela, but she leaves us with a conundrum. If Guzmán Blanco could serve the national interest and his own at the same time, if the modernizing investments were reasonably efficient, and if the returns on investments in Venezuela were comparable to those in other countries, then why was the nation’s economic situation so much more dire than that of Argentina or Brazil by 1900? Was it because the Venezuelan lines depended on imports, while those in the Southern Cone earned returns on exports? Was the personal enrichment of Guzmán and his allies more of a brake on development than the author suggests? Did the foreign investors exact guarantees that were too stringent for the nation to meet? The author does not explore these issues in depth—although, in fairness, she did not set out to provide a comparative economic history of nineteenth-century Latin America. This is a book that asks big questions, but also inspires many others. It is a valuable addition to the literature on Latin America’s economic history.

A Review of O'Rourke and Williamson's Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth Century Atlantic Economy

Much of the comparative economic history of the nineteenth century focuses on the spread of the Industrial Revolution from Britain. Incomes converged, in this view, as the transfer of superior technology raised incomes in the periphery. In Globalization and History, Kevin O'Rourke and Jeffrey Williamson challenge this technological approach, arguing that neoclassical effects of trade and factor supply changes provide more insight. Increased trade, stimulated by falling transportation costs, and factor movements caused prices of locally scarce factors to fall and promoted factor price convergence.

Britain and Japan: A Comparative Economic and Social History since 1900. By Kenneth D. Brown. New York: Manchester University Press, 1998. Pp. xi, 269. $79.95, cloth; $27.95, paper.

Britain and Japan: A Comparative Economic and Social History since 1900. By Kenneth D. Brown. New York: Manchester University Press, 1998. Pp. xi, 269. $79.95, cloth; $27.95, paper.

Britain and Japan: a comparative economic and social history since 1900

Endings and beginnings? Britain and Japan, 1870-1914 from great war to great crash, 1914-1929 and back again, 1930-1945 power and ritual, 1914-1940 recovery and postwar boom, 1945-1970 realignments - production and reproduction, 1971-1995 power and ritual, 1945-1995.