Economic growth in the Lower Yangzi region of China in 1911–1937: a quantitative and historical analysis

Debin Ma

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Through a detailed reconstruction of 1933 GDP for the two provinces in China's most advanced region, the Lower Yangzi, I show that their per capita income was 55 percent higher than China's average, and they had experienced a growth and structural change between 1914–1918 and 1931–1936 comparable to contemporaneous Japan and her East Asian colonies. This article highlights the unique political institution of early-twentieth-century Shanghai as a city state, with its rule of law and secure property rights laying the foundation for economic growth in the Lower Yangzi with long-term impact throughout East Asia.

JEL-codes: N0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-05
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (28)

Published in Journal of Economic History, May, 2008, 68(2), pp. 355-392. ISSN: 0022-0507

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:32398

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