In the 18th century, the East India Company introduced Italian filature technology to the silk-reeling industry in the Indian province of Bengal in order to produce silk suitable for the European market. The experiment failed in Bengal despite its superiority over the traditional method and eventually moved to Japan in the late 19th century, where it was successfully adopted. In this paper, drawing on the Japanese case, we examine the reasons behind filature's failure in Bengal. We focus on the role of micro-innovation in technology adoption and argue that in Bengal's case, the East India Company failed to provide incentive for such micro-innovation because of its dual status as the monopoly trader and de facto ruler of Bengal. On the other hand, the Japanese silk industry was characterized by competition, which played a key role in the successful technology adoption.
{"title":"ROLE OF MICRO-INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION: THE CASE OF SILK FILATURE IN JAPAN AND COLONIAL INDIA","authors":"Anirban Mukherjee, Subhasree Sarkar","doi":"10.1111/deve.12442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12442","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In the 18th century, the East India Company introduced Italian filature technology to the silk-reeling industry in the Indian province of Bengal in order to produce silk suitable for the European market. The experiment failed in Bengal despite its superiority over the traditional method and eventually moved to Japan in the late 19th century, where it was successfully adopted. In this paper, drawing on the Japanese case, we examine the reasons behind filature's failure in Bengal. We focus on the role of micro-innovation in technology adoption and argue that in Bengal's case, the East India Company failed to provide incentive for such micro-innovation because of its dual status as the monopoly trader and de facto ruler of Bengal. On the other hand, the Japanese silk industry was characterized by competition, which played a key role in the successful technology adoption.</p>","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 4","pages":"328-361"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145487062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Made in China: When US-China Interests Converged to Transform Global Trade by Elizabeth O'Brien Ingleson, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2024, x + 335 pp.","authors":"Wendy Leutert","doi":"10.1111/deve.12440","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12440","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 3","pages":"287-289"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144782948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Birth of the Geopolitical Age: Global Frontiers and the Making of Modern China by Shellen Xiao Wu, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2023, xvi + 309 pp.","authors":"Graham F. Odell","doi":"10.1111/deve.12437","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12437","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 2","pages":"218-222"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143896997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Seeds of Mobilization: The Authoritarian Roots of South Korea's Democracy by Joan E. Cho, Ann Arbor, MI, University of Michigan Press, 2024, xxi + 253 pp.","authors":"Myunghee Lee","doi":"10.1111/deve.12439","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12439","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 3","pages":"285-287"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144782747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Research Handbook on Academic Labour Markets edited by Glenda Strachan, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2024, xviii + 380 pp.","authors":"Jandhyala B. G. Tilak","doi":"10.1111/deve.12441","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12441","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 3","pages":"290-292"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144782644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Smugglers and States: Negotiating the Maghreb at Its Margins by Max Gallien, New York, NY, Columbia University Press, 2024, xiv + 346 pp.","authors":"Florian Weigand","doi":"10.1111/deve.12438","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12438","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 2","pages":"212-215"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143897257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Markets with Bureaucratic Characteristics: How Economic Bureaucrats Make Policies and Remake the Chinese State by Yingyao Wang, New York, NY, Columbia University Press, 2024, vi + 291 pp.","authors":"Muyang Chen","doi":"10.1111/deve.12435","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12435","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 2","pages":"215-218"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143896835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Contested City: Citizen Advocacy and Survival in Modern Baghdad by Alissa Walter, Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press, 2025, xvi + 332 pp.","authors":"Austin J. Knuppe","doi":"10.1111/deve.12436","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12436","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 2","pages":"209-212"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143897070","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This paper investigates the relationship between ethnic and religious diversity (ED and RD) and financial development using the data from 102 developing countries. It is widely accepted that financial depth and the more ready availability of finance have a central role to play in fostering economic growth. We hypothesize that financial development in developing countries, especially those at the early stages of economic development, may be retarded by preexisting ED and RD, which may produce conflict. However, we believe that this risk can be moderated by sound institutional functioning, including good governance and democracy. Financial development is measured using M2 and private credit, both as a percentage of GDP, while ED and RD is measured using the Alesina fragmentation index. Our results are supportive of our hypothesis that ED and RD can indeed hamper financial development; these risks, however, are mitigated by well-functioning institutional arrangements.
{"title":"Diversity Matters in the World of Finance: Does Ethnic and Religious Diversity Hinder Financial Development in Developing Countries?","authors":"Saqib Amin, Syed Mansoob Murshed","doi":"10.1111/deve.12434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12434","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper investigates the relationship between ethnic and religious diversity (<i>ED</i> and <i>RD</i>) and financial development using the data from 102 developing countries. It is widely accepted that financial depth and the more ready availability of finance have a central role to play in fostering economic growth. We hypothesize that financial development in developing countries, especially those at the early stages of economic development, may be retarded by preexisting <i>ED</i> and <i>RD</i>, which may produce conflict. However, we believe that this risk can be moderated by sound institutional functioning, including good governance and democracy. Financial development is measured using M2 and private credit, both as a percentage of GDP, while <i>ED</i> and <i>RD</i> is measured using the Alesina fragmentation index. Our results are supportive of our hypothesis that <i>ED</i> and <i>RD</i> can indeed hamper financial development; these risks, however, are mitigated by well-functioning institutional arrangements.</p>","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 3","pages":"262-284"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144782808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Surviving the Islamic State: Contention, Cooperation, and Neutrality in Wartime Iraq by Austin J. Knuppe, New York, NY, Columbia University Press, 2024, xxii + 284 pp.","authors":"George L. Simpson Jr.","doi":"10.1111/deve.12433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1111/deve.12433","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46525,"journal":{"name":"Developing Economies","volume":"63 2","pages":"207-209"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143896859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}