Confucianism and war mobilization: evidence from Chinese revolutions

Yang Cai (), Sijie Hu () and Shengmin Sun ()
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Yang Cai: Renmin University of China
Sijie Hu: Renmin University of China
Shengmin Sun: Renmin University of China

Cliometrica, 2024, vol. 18, issue 2, No 6, 493-529

Abstract: Abstract The Communist Party of China (CPC) achieved a series of military successes in revolutionary wars. Based on new county-level panel datasets from China, this study uses the shocks brought about by a civil and foreign war to test the impact of Confucianism on the war mobilization capacity of the CPC. We find that, during the civil war, Confucianism did not significantly affect CPC’s war mobilization; however, during the foreign war, it significantly improved CPC’s capacity to mobilize people. This demonstrates the differentiated effects of Confucianism by war type through three different mechanisms: “loyalty,” “just war,” and “patriotism.” Our findings shed light on the role of native cultural norms in collective action.

Keywords: Cultural norms; Confucianism; War mobilization; Collective actions; Soldier deaths (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D70 H56 N95 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s11698-023-00273-0

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