The Ewo Filature: A Study in the Transfer of Technology to China in the 19th Century

Brown, Shannon R.

doi:10.2307/3103816

Cited by 19 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…8-9). As a result, private modern industry had no legal status in China until the 20th century (Brown 1979;Ma 2004). These policies in turn resulted in the loss of leadership in one of China's most important industries, sericulture (silk production) to Japan, whose Meiji government implemented Western reforms strongly encouraging private enterprise (despite its negative e¤ects on traditional manufacturers) and important infrastructure such as the telegraph (Ma 2005).…”

Section: Qing Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ideological Roots of Institutional Change

İyigün

Rubin

2017

SSRN Journal

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Why do some societies fail to adopt more e¢ cient institutions in response to changing economic conditions? And why do such conditions sometimes generate ideological backlashes and at other times lead to transformative sociopolitical movements? We propose an explanation that highlights the interplay-or lack thereof-between new technologies, ideologies, and institutions. When new technologies emerge, uncertainty results from a lack of understanding how the technology will …t with prevailing ideologies and institutions. This uncertainty discourages investment in institutions and the cultural capital necessary to take advantage of new technologies. Accordingly, increased uncertainty during times of rapid technological change may generate an ideological backlash that puts a higher premium on traditional values. We apply the theory to numerous historical episodes, including Ottoman reform initiatives, the Japanese Tokugawa reforms and Meiji Restoration, and the Tongzhi Restoration in Qing China.

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Section: Qing Chinamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ideological Roots of Institutional Change

İyigün

Rubin

2017

SSRN Journal

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“…Institutional and ideological constraints that drained potential profits from embryonic industrial ventures posed a key obstacle to modern industry. Shannon Brown (1978Brown ( , 1979aBrown ( , 1979 and others demonstrate how these difficulties undermined initiatives in soybean and silk processing. Entrenched local interest groups, possibly strengthened under the decentralization that accompanied the Taiping Rebellion (Brandt, Ma, and Rawski, 2014), thwarted potential competition by blocking newcomers' access to materials (soybeans, cocoons), storage facilities, and transport.…”

Section: Slow Development During the First Half-century Of Opennessmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery since 1871

O’Rourke¹,

Williamson²

2017

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“…We are able to trace the dramatic details of the first European silk-reeling technology transfer to East Asia through the rich archival records of East Asia's most powerful trading firm, Jardine, Matheson & Co (Brown, 1979;Ishii, 1998). In 1859, Jardine employed a British subject, John Major, who had 15 years' experience of operating a silk filature in Naples, Italy.…”

Section: The Lower Yangzimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The reality was that the factory had been incurring a constant loss throughout its years of operations. The fixed costs of setting up an entire infrastructure to support a single factory were simply too high (Brown, 1979;Ishii, 1998, ch. 5).…”

Section: The Lower Yangzimentioning

confidence: 99%

Between Cottage and Factory: The Evolution of Chinese and Japanese Silk-Reeling Industries in the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century

2005

Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy

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This article analyses the differential patterns of evolution in Chinese and Japanese silk-reeling industries during the latter half of the nineteenth century. It shows that, while Japanese exports of raw silk overall grew the fastest, the Guangdong region in China also expanded rapidly whereas the Lower Yangzi region lagged behind in machine-reeling production. This article applies a simple partial equilibrium framework to link the differential rates of growth with patterns of technological borrowing and economy-wide transaction costs. Through a historical narrative, the article argues that the contrasting performance in the two countries' silk exports is directly linked to the differential rates of decline in barriers to learningand transaction costs, which in turn were intimately associated with divergent political and economic changes taking place in Japan and China in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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The Ewo Filature: A Study in the Transfer of Technology to China in the 19th Century

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

The Ideological Roots of Institutional Change

The Ideological Roots of Institutional Change

The Spread of Modern Industry to the Periphery since 1871

Between Cottage and Factory: The Evolution of Chinese and Japanese Silk-Reeling Industries in the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century

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