Financial revolution in republican China during 1900–37: a survey and a new interpretation

Debin Ma

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

Abstract: This paper surveys the phenomenal transformation of banking and finance, public debt, and monetary regimes during 1900–37, a period of great political instability in Chinese history. To understand why growth in these strategic sectors occurred, I highlight the role of the institutional nexus of Western treaty ports (with Shanghai being the most important) and China Maritime Customs service, a relatively autonomous tax bureaucracy. My new interpretation on the importance of this mechanism sheds new light on the role of Chinese political institutions, the impact of the West and the ongoing Great Divergence debate.

Keywords: China; credible commitment; public debt; financial revolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E42 N15 N25 N45 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 21 pages
Date: 2019-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cna, nep-fdg, nep-his and nep-mac
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in Australian Economic History Review, November, 2019, 59(3), pp. 242-262. ISSN: 0004-8992

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:100280

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