Asia‐Pacific Economic History Review最新文献

This study explores the British Empire's retreat from China through the lens of London investors in Chinese sovereign bonds (1898–1938). Using structural break analysis on weekly spreads between Chinese bonds—secured by British-controlled customs and salt revenues—and British Consols, it identifies key shifts. Spreads surged over 70% during the Northern Expedition (1926–1928), coinciding with Britain's shift from ‘gunboat diplomacy’ to concessions, signalling investor perceptions of declining imperial oversight. A subsequent break at the Expedition's conclusion saw spreads narrow by 24% to 54%, not due to a resurgence of British influence, but to the Nationalist Government's split from the Communist Party and Bolsheviks and its pledge to honour existing debts. However, in the post-Expedition era, perceived risk in Chinese bonds rose, reflected in a sharp increase in bond return volatility and a heightened co-movement between London and domestic bond returns. Realising their government could no longer guarantee the credibility of Chinese bonds, London investors adjusted their strategy, closely tracking developments in China.

This study explores the formation and implementation of Japan's economic sanctions on enemy business, especially German merchants, during the First World War, by positioning Japan within the context of the Allies' collective effort to enforce a global blockade. Although Japan enforced harsh measures in Qingdao, the economic sanctions on the home front were lenient compared with those of the European Allies and the United States. For this, Japan received diplomatic pressure from Britain. The Allies' pressure eventually led to Japan's policy switch before the end of the war. With respect to sanctions, Japan was a reverse salient among the Allies.

This dissertation was completed and conferred in 2023 at the University of Barcelona under the supervision of Alfonso Herranz-Loncán (University of Barcelona) and Gabriele Cappelli (University of Siena). It was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities under an FPU scholarship. See the dissertation for full references and acknowledgements.

The dissertation can be accessed at https://hdl.handle.net/2445/206123.

Different institutional settings lead to different developmental outcomes (Acemoglu et al., 2005). However, the effect of institutions on the distribution of the benefits of development remains relatively unexplored—particularly for colonial times. Similarly, research on the impact of institutions on the provision of public goods promoting human capital—other than education—has also remained understudied. With these broad research gaps in mind, in this dissertation I explore the impact of land revenue systems on the distribution of agricultural income and on the funding of hospitals and dispensaries in colonial India.

Land revenue systems was an institution introduced by the British granting landownership—together with land tax liability—to different types of individuals. During their initial expansion, the British introduced a landlord system—where landownership was granted to an intermediary. As more regions came under British control, non-landlord systems were also introduced. In these systems, landownership was granted directly to the cultivator. Interestingly, Banerjee and Iyer (2005) find that these systems influenced post-colonial development, although their impact during the colonial period remains mostly unknown. Importantly, this dissertation presents the first comparative estimates of agricultural income inequality below the national level for colonial India. I also provide one of the first datasets with data for colonial India below the district-level. In particular, I construct a new georeferenced dataset with revenue and expenditure data for over 1600 hospitals and dispensaries.

After a brief introduction, I explore the link between land revenue systems and the evolution of agricultural income inequality from 1880 to 1910. To do so, I use provincial wage/land price (W/LP) ratios to estimate agricultural income inequality. When correlating these new estimates with the presence of different land revenue systems, I find that in provinces with more landlord systems, agricultural income inequality increased less and, in some cases even decreased. I argue that this was due to the introduction of Tenancy Acts. These acts were mostly introduced in landlord provinces and limited rent rises as well as tenant eviction, reducing the landlords' capacity to increase their share of agricultural surplus over time. The correlation between some economic factors—like factor endowments—and the W/LP ratios does

This study collects original data to examine the determinants of classification criteria of county hierarchy and its rank variations during the Tang–Song period. The results reveal that the county hierarchy was affected by both economic and political situations, with more emphasis on politics in Tang and economics in Song. By comparing the county ranks through two dynasties, we find that political factors influenced rank elevation mainly near the capital while economic factors emerged as the primary driver of rank increases in southern regions, reflecting the economic center southward shift during the Tang–Song Transition.

China's center of socioeconomic activities was in the North prior to the Tang dynasty but is in the South today. We demonstrate that Arab and Persian Muslim traders triggered that transition when they came to China in the late seventh century, by lifting maritime trade along the South Coast and re-creating the South. Between 742 and 1393 CE, prefectures with better access to maritime trade, or higher porcelain trade participation, experienced significantly higher population growth, but the predictive coefficient weakened substantially after the maritime trade ban of 1371 CE. These findings are robust after controlling for many confounding factors.

This paper introduces a new approach to explore the information capacity of the Chinese Maritime Customs from 1864 to 1938. It employs a mirror analysis by comparing Chinese Maritime Customs' international trade data with that of China's major trading partners: the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Findings reveal that Chinese Maritime Customs' improvements in measuring foreign trade frequently coincided with its institutional reforms. The results highlight that these improvements were not uniform across different regions. Specifically, the persistent discrepancies between Chinese Maritime Customs’ and Japanese data underscore the influence of geopolitics since late 19th century.

This article considers hotel licensing and gender across New Zealand, New South Wales and Victoria in the long nineteenth century, creating timelines of legislative changes and exploring the impact of business regulation and its implementation on women. It exposes a disconnect between law and licensing court practices, indicative of the ways entrenched understandings of gendered behaviours and local conditions affected women in business. It demonstrates that women's rights as publicans went backwards in New Zealand and New South Wales, just as other rights were expanding. It explores Victorian exceptionalism, Victoria legalising female licensees when others did not.