Explaining the Great Divergence

The boom in global history that The Great Divergence helped to stimulate has produced much new analysis of the path of economic change that preceded the Industrial Revolution. This can be used to provide the framework within which work on Japan is presented in Part II of the book. Thus, explanations of the timing and nature of the Great Divergence can be categorised as: (i) those that relate to divergences in access to the natural resources, in particular coal, on which accelerated economic growth and industrialisation depended, via engagement in trade, colonisation, and globalisation in general; (ii) those that see divergence as the result of differences in the institutional structures that condition the spread of the market and determine household behaviour, for example in relation to demography; (iii) those relating to the role of state institutions in promoting the conditions for industrialisation; (iv) those that see the Divergence as resulting from differences in cultural and institutional approaches to science, technology, and wealth-creation; (v) those that see industrialisation as dependent on growth in the market for consumer goods, the extent and nature of which may have diverged across Eurasia.