Institutional Change and Rural Industrialization in China

Institutional Change and Rural Industrialization in ChinaThis book explores the development of the putting out system in hand woven textile industries in late Qing Dynasty and China's Republican Period. In classic sociology theory, the putting out system in handcraft production was regarded as traditional and inefficient. In the context of Republican China, it was believed that this kind of household based production system would have totally failed in competition with the factory system of machinery

This book explores the development of the putting-out system in hand-woven textile industries in late Qing Dynasty and China's Republican Period. In classic sociology theory, the putting-out system in handcraft production was regarded as traditional and inefficient. In the context of Republican China, it was believed that this kind of household-based production system would have totally failed in competition with the factory system of machinery production. However, this book exhibits the historical fact that the putting-out system was booming in handcraft textile production and subsequently provides an explanation to this phenomenon from the perspectives of institutional analysis and quantitative modeling. With rich county-level data and comprehensive analysis, this book is valuable for both researchers, academics and students in economics and social history studies.