The great divergence and the economics of printing
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3429576 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Luis Angeles (0000-0002-9254-4608, Adam Smith Business School (Economics) University of Glasgow, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 30-51 |
| Publication date | 2017-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ehr.12337 |
| OpenAlex | W2465509446 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
While China's invention of printing took place several centuries ahead of Europe's, it was in Europe where the more advanced printing technology of movable type took hold and where book production reached far higher levels. This article explores the extent to which China's complex logographic writing system explains these different outcomes. Using an economic analysis, I show how China's preference for block printing technology over movable type can be justified as the rational choice of commercial producers. In addition to this, model simulations also predict that movable type would be used in China under some specific circumstances which closely match the historical record. On the other hand, the use of block printing would not have led to larger printing costs in China, and as such should not be regarded as the reason behind China's modest level of book production when compared to Europe's
Archaeology · Block (permutation group theory) · China · Divergence (linguistics) · Economics · Economy · Great Divergence · Linguistics · Microeconomics · Political science · Preference · Printing press · Production (economics) · Art History and Market Analysis · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · History · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy
Science and civilization in China
The Long Road to the Industrial Revolution
The Printing Press as an Agent of Change
Information Technology and Economic Change
The Great Divergence
A Social History of the Chinese Book
The First Modern Economy
Publishing, Culture, and Power in Early Modern China
The Invention of Printing in China and Its Spread Westward
China, Europe, and the Great Divergence
Charting the “Rise of the West”
Incunabula and their Readers
Technology, Skills and the Pre-Modern Economy in the East and the West
Wages, prices, and living standards in China, 1738–1925
Progress and poverty in early modern Europe
The Potato's Contribution to Population and Urbanization
The Printed World
| Highly cited | No |
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