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

Carl Mosk ()

in World Scientific Books from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Countries commencing industrialization with relatively low levels of agricultural productivity, hence low wages, enjoy advantages that can also prove host to daunting challenges. The chief advantage is a relatively elastic supply of labor for manufacturing; the chief challenge is how to free up farm labor for factory employment through the raising of labor productivity in farming. Key to raising agricultural labor productivity is providing incentives to increase effort levels including hours worked — access to markets being crucial — and improving the quality of labor as measured by health indicators and educational attainment. The willingness of elites to promote improvements in infrastructure — physical infrastructure in the form of roads and railroads and hydroelectric systems; human capital enhancing infrastructure augmenting the educational attainment and health of populations in rural areas; and financial infrastructure — and to invest directly in factories is crucial to the process by which labor is transferred from farming to manufacturing activities. During the period 1850 to 1935 elites in China tended to resist the requisite changes while elites in Japan did not. This legacy played a crucial role in shaping the nature of post-1950 economic development in the two countries.

Keywords: Economic Development; Chinese Economy; Japanese Economy; Economic History of East Asia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
ISBN: 9789814287524
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Chapters in this book:

Ch 1 The Argument , pp 3-16

Carl Mosk

Ch 2 Elites and Traps , pp 17-44

Carl Mosk

Ch 3 Qing China, 1840–1911 , pp 47-69

Carl Mosk

Ch 4 Tokugawa and Meiji Japan , pp 70-86

Carl Mosk

Ch 5 Growth Acceleration in Japan, 1910–1938 , pp 89-107

Carl Mosk

Ch 6 Agriculture and Industrialization in Republican China, 1911–1935 , pp 108-125

Carl Mosk

Ch 7 Militarism, 1930–1945 , pp 126-140

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Ch 8 Elites in Decline , pp 143-155

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Ch 9 Miracle Growth and Its Aftermath in Japan , pp 156-175

Carl Mosk

Ch 10 Command and Control and Its Aftermath in China , pp 176-190

Carl Mosk

Ch 11 Conclusions , pp 191-194

Carl Mosk

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