【主讲】Tuan Hwee Sng 助教授 (National University of Singapore)
【主题】Unified China and Divided Europe
【时间】2013年12月23日 (周一) 15：30-17：00
【地点】上海财经大学经济学院楼801室
【语言】中文
【摘要】This paper proposes a theory of the origins and consequences of political centralization and fragmentation. We argue that a greater threat of external invasion from the steppe led to political centralization in China while Europe faced a wider variety of external threats and remained politically fragmented. Our model allows us to explore the consequences of political centralization and fragmentation. Political centralization in China led to less interstate competition in Europe. But it also meant that China was fragile in the event of an external invasion. We develop a unied growth framework to show that the greater volatility in growth during the Malthusian era in China can help explain the divergence in economic development that had opened up between China and Europe at the onset of the Industrial Revolution.
