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How Well Did Facts Travel to Support Protracted Debate on the History of the Great Divergence between Western Europe and Imperial China?

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Listed:
  • Deng, Kent
  • O'Brien, Patrick

Abstract

This paper tackles the issue of how reliable the currently circulated 'facts' really are regarding the 'Great Divergence' debate. Our findings indicate strongly that 'facts' of premodern China are often of low quality and fragmented. Consequently, the application of these 'facts' can be misleading and harmful.

Suggested Citation

  • Deng, Kent & O'Brien, Patrick, 2017. "How Well Did Facts Travel to Support Protracted Debate on the History of the Great Divergence between Western Europe and Imperial China?," MPRA Paper 77276, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:77276
    as

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    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/77276/2/MPRA_paper_77276.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kent Deng & Patrick O'Brien, 2016. "Establishing statistical foundations of a chronology for the great divergence: a survey and critique of the primary sources for the construction of relative wage levels for Ming–Qing China," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 69(4), pages 1057-1082, November.
    2. Deng, Kent & O’Brien, Patrick Karl, 2016. "China’s GDP per capita from the Han Dynasty to communist times," Economic History Working Papers 64857, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    3. Kent Deng & Patrick O'Brien, 2016. "China’s GDP Per Capita from the Han Dynasty to Communist Times," World Economics, World Economics, 1 Ivory Square, Plantation Wharf, London, United Kingdom, SW11 3UE, vol. 17(2), pages 79-124, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Data We Have vs. the Data We Need: A Comment on the State of the “Divergence” Debate (Part I)
      by Manuel A. Bautista-González in NEP-HIS blog on 2017-06-07 01:09:58

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Divergence; evidence; GDP estimates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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