China's Maritime Customs and China's Trade Statistics, 1859–1948. By Thomas P. Lyons. [Trumansburg, NY: Willow Creek Press, 2003. 171 pp. $34.95. ISBN 0-97291475-7.]

2004 ◽  
Vol 178 ◽  
pp. 526-527
Author(s):  
Hans van de Ven
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Organizational History ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic

Any historian with a serious interest in China's modern economic history will be grateful for Thomas Lyons's study of the trade statistics produced by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Those wishing to use the Customs' statistics will find it indispensable. By means of a detailed demonstration of how to reconstruct statistics for the Fujian tea trade between 1862 and 1948, Lyons shows all the pitfalls and dangers of using Customs data, and how to deal with them.Lyons, who has published on Fujian's and China's economic history in the past, constructs his study as a test of the tea trade statistics used by Robert Gardella and Chen Ciyu. He convincingly demonstrates that both made errors, which in the case of Gardella were of relatively minor consequence but in that of Chen of a much more serious nature. But his study is not a pedantic exercise in cliometric propriety. Rather, Lyons provides us with a sourcebook to the statistical publications of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. He sets out in brief form the Service's organizational history and its bureaucratic structures. He then explains the Maritime Customs Service's accounts, the statistics it produced, and their dangers. He finally applies the lessons learned to a reconstruction of the Fujian tea trade.

Manufacturing Growth and Structural Change in American Economic History

2018 ◽  
pp. 182-212
Author(s):  
Changkeun Lee ◽  
Paul W. Rhode
Keyword(s):  
Structural Change ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Manufacturing Growth ◽  
Industrial Revolutions

Over past 200 years, industrialization was the driving force in the economic development of most nations experiencing “modern economic growth.” Industrial activity generally expanded faster than the economy as a whole, and the sector grew to account for sizable shares of output, employment, and trade. Manufacturing activities have generally experienced faster rates of productivity growth than the economy as a whole and the sector has often paid higher labor wages. Manufacturing also contributes materiel and technology for military purposes. For these reasons, policymakers and the public have long viewed manufacturing as being of greater importance than other activities. This chapter surveys growth and structural change in the American manufacturing sector over the past 200 years. It chronicles the sector’s transformation during the first (1810–1860), second (1870–1920), and third (1970–present) industrial revolutions. It examines the forces, such as globalization, information technologies, and deindustrialization, shaping the sector today.

Presidential Address: Questions About China's Early Modern Economic History That I Wish I Could Answer

1992 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 757-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Feuerwerker
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Asian Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Modern Economic

I am greatly honored to have had the opportunity to serve as president of the Association for Asian Studies during the past year, and I am cognizant of the distinction of this afternoon's occasion. This being Washington, where everything is “political”—even more so perhaps than in Beijing—my original thought was to deliver a political sermon on a theme something like “Bush in China.” In fact, I found a possible text for my homily: a book published in Philadelphia in 1865 by a Presbyterian minister, Charles P. Bush, entitledFive Years in China; or, The Factory Boy Made a Missionary: The Life and Observations of Rev. W. Aitchison. But the Reverend Mr. Bush's hagiographical account of the life of William Aitchison, once a missionary to heathen China, was of little help; and I quickly decided that my talents as a fabulist of this variety were exceedingly limited. Hence the quite different fables to which I shall expose you today.

scholarly journals Beyond behaviorism, positivism, and neo-institutionalism in economics: a conversation with Deirdre Nansen McCloskey

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Deirdre Nansen McCloskey ◽  
Paolo Silvestri
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Real Income ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
The Past ◽  
Existence Proofs ◽  
Forthcoming Book ◽  
Big Ideas ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Mere Existence

Abstract Silvestri interviews McCloskey about her forthcoming book, ‘Beyond Behaviorism, Positivism, and Neo-Institutionalism in Economics’, critical of recent economics, especially of neo-institutionalism. Neo-institutionalism uses the ugly character ‘Herr Max U’ as its central idea: the elevation of Prudence to the only virtue. Institutions are mainly intermediate, not ultimate, causes in society. Ethics, rhetoric, identity, ideology, and ideas matter. McCloskey's turn to defending liberalism is in the background of her critique of behaviorism, positivism, and neo-institutionalism as anti-liberal, reducing the analysis of people to a model of childish slaves. Liberalism is the theory of non-slave adults. Of the big ideas of the past few centuries, only liberalism treats people with suitable dignity, and permits them to have a go, and make others rich. Neo-institutionalism shares the two sins of modern Samuelsonian economics: a devotion of mere existence proofs; and a deviation to arbitrary tests of statistical ‘significance’. And in its tale of a rise of ‘capitalism’, it shares the errors of amateur economic history. The better word for the modern economic world of the Great Enrichment – fully 3,000% increases in real income per person – is ‘innovism’. Neo-institutionalism, as the method of historical economics, must be replaced by ‘Humanomics’.

“Product Not Available in Pre-War Quantities – but Quality Remains the Same”: Remarks on Advertisements as Historical Sources

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Saryusz-Wolska
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
World War ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
The Past ◽  
German Press ◽  
Post War ◽  
Second World

The article focuses on advertisements as visual and historical sources. The material comes from the German press that appeared immediately after the end of the Second World War. During this time, all kinds of products were scarce. In comparison to this, colorful advertisements of luxury products are more than noteworthy. What do these images tell us about the early post-war years in Germany? The author argues that advertisements are a medium that shapes social norms. Rather than reflecting the historical realities, advertisements construct them. From an aesthetical and cultural point of view, advertisements gave thus a sense of continuity between the pre- and post-war years. The author suggests, therefore, that the advertisements should not be treated as a source for economic history. They are, however, important for studying social developments that occurred in the past.

scholarly journals Epidemiology of childhood tuberculosis after ceasing universal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sayori Kobayashi ◽  
Takashi Yoshiyama ◽  
Kazuhiro Uchimura ◽  
Yuko Hamaguchi ◽  
Seiya Kato
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
Vaccine Coverage ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Public Health Authority ◽  
Bacillus Calmette Guerin ◽  
Notification Rate ◽  
Bcg Vaccination ◽  
The Past ◽  
Childhood Tb ◽  
Selective Vaccination

AbstractUniversal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination is recommended in countries with high tuberculosis (TB) burden. Nevertheless, several countries have ceased universal BCG vaccination over the past 40 years, with scarce comparative epidemiological analyses regarding childhood TB after the policy change. We analysed data on childhood TB in countries that ceased universal BCG vaccination. Data sources included national/international databases, published papers, annual TB reports, and public health authority websites. Childhood TB notification rate increased in one of seven countries with available data. Pulmonary TB and TB lymphadenitis were the main causes of increasing childhood cases, while changes in severe forms of TB cases were minor. Maintaining high vaccine coverage for the target group was a common challenge after shifting selective vaccination. In some countries showing no increase in childhood TB after a BCG policy change, the majority of childhood TB cases were patients from abroad or those with overseas parents; these countries had changed immigration policies during the same period. Heterogeneity in childhood TB epidemiology was observed after ceasing universal BCG vaccination; several factors might obscure the influence of vaccination policy change. Lessons learned from these countries may aid in the development of better BCG vaccination strategies.

American Institutional Studies: Present Knowledge and Past Trends

1971 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
James H. Soltow
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Present Knowledge ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
The Past

The production of economic history, like that in many fields of scholarly endeavor, increased sharply in the past quarter-century, compared to the rate of output in earlier eras. While the “new” economic history, with its emphasis on economic theory and measurement, has attracted considerable attention during the last decade, “traditional” economic history, written along institutional lines, has continued to be significant, both quantitatively (in terms of numbers of books and articles) and qualitatively (as assessed by contributions to our understanding of economic processes.)

Present Bias: Lessons Learned and To Be Learned

2015 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted O'Donoghue ◽  
Matthew Rabin
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Theoretical Understanding ◽  
Present Bias ◽  
The Past ◽  
Empirical Analyses

While present bias is an old idea, it only took hold in economics following David Laibson's (1994) dissertation. Over the past 20 years, research has led to a much better theoretical understanding of present bias, when and how to apply it, and which ancillary assumptions are appropriate in different contexts. Empirical analyses have demonstrated how present bias can improve our understanding of behavior in various economic field contexts. Nonetheless, there is still much to learn. In this paper, we give our assessment of some lessons learned, and to be learned.

An ‘Age of Commerce’ in Southeast Asian History

1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Reid
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Economic History ◽  
External Factors ◽  
The Other ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Asian History

Since the end of World War II the study of Southeast Asia has changed unrecognizably. The often bitter end of colonialism caused a sharp break with older scholarly traditions, and their tendency to see Southeast Asia as a receptacle for external influences—first Indian, Persian, Islamic or Chinese, later European. The greatest gain over the past forty years has probably been a much increased sensitivity to the cultural distinctiveness of Southeast Asia both as a whole and in its parts. If there has been a loss, on the other hand, it has been the failure of economic history to advance beyond the work of the generation of Furnivall, van Leur, Schrieke and Boeke. Perhaps because economic factors were difficult to disentangle from external factors they were seen by very few Southeast Asianists as the major challenge.

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