Unfolding the Turbulent Century: A Reconstruction of China's Economic Development, 1840-1912

Ye Ma and Herman de Jong

No HIAS-E-29, Discussion paper series from Hitotsubashi Institute for Advanced Study, Hitotsubashi University

Abstract: This paper reconstructs China's economic development between 1840 and 1912 with an estimation of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It provides for the first time a time series of GDP (per capita) for the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), based on sectoral output and value added, in current as well as in constant prices. The present estimation of per capita GDP in the late Qing period comes out higher than previous estimations, but it still suggests low average levels of Chinese living standards. The economy during the late Qing Empire was characterised by a large and growing agricultural sector and displayed only minor structural changes. Only in the beginning of the twentieth century did the economy start to show signs of growth.

Keywords: China; GDP; 19th century; living standards (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E01 N15 O11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2016-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-his, nep-mac and nep-net
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://hermes-ir.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/hermes/ir/re/27951/070_hiasDP-E-29.pdf

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hit:hiasdp:hias-e-29

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