Fenjiashu: Economic development in the Chinese countryside based on household division inventories, ca. 1750–1910

In: Australian economic history review: an Asia-Pacific journal of economic, business & social history, Band 61, Heft 3, S. 252-272

Abstract

AbstractDespite the existence of a rich literature on Chinese partial household division, there is still limited evidence of its effect on land and capital accumulation and well‐being. In this study, contrary to the dominant view, we find that household property size peaked around 1800s–1830s, suggesting that equal‐share system did not necessarily lead to land fragmentation. We find evidence that this rise in farm sizes is related to the opposing forces of increased well‐being and increased inequality.