Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy: Comparative Perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe

"Scholarly discussions on economic development in history, specifically those linked to industrialization or modern economic growth, have paid great attention to the formation and development of the market economy as a set of institutions able to augment people's welfare. The role of nonmarket practices for promoting economic development and success has been an area of interest, typically involving discussion of the state's economic policies. How have societies tackled problems that the market did not handle well? To what extent did their solutions reflect the structure of their economy? Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy explores these questions by investigating efforts made for the provision of "public goods" in early modern economies from the perspective of Japanese socioeconomic history during the Tokugawa era (1603–1868), and comparing those cases with others from Europe and China. The contributors focus on three areas of inquiry—welfare policies for the poor, infrastructure, and forest management—to provide both a unique perspective on Japanese public finance at local levels and a vantage point outside of Europe. The book seeks to encourage a more global view of the early modern political economies that shaped subsequent modern transformations."--Provided by publisher

Introduction : towards the public goods provision in the early modern economy / Masayuki Tanimoto -- From "feudal" lords to local notables : the role of regional society in public goods provision from early modern to modern Japan / Masayuki Tanimoto -- Samurai and peasants in the civil administration of early modern Japan / Kenichiro Aratake -- Outsourcing the lord's finance : the origin of local public finance in early modern Japan / Kazuho Sakai -- Sanctions, targetism, and village autonomy : poor relief in early modern rural Japan / Mitsuo Kinoshita -- Coping with risk in the seventeenth century : the first age of the English old poor law, a regional study / Jonathan Healey -- Coping with poverty in rural Brandenburg : the role of lords and state in the late eighteenth century / Takashi Iida -- Coping with poverty and famine : material welfare, public goods, and Chinese approaches to governance / R. Bin Wong -- The development of civil engineering projects and village communities in seventeenth to nineteenth century Japan / Junichi Kanzaka -- Rulers and ruled in flood protection during the eighteenth century : the Prussian example / Heinrich Kaak -- Infrastructure maintenance in the Jifu region, Beijing metropolitan region during the eighteenth century / Takehiko To -- Provided for public welfare : traffic infrastructure and the "bonum commune topos" with examples from fifteenth and sixteenth century Brandenburg electorate / Sascha Bütow -- Lords' forestry for people's basic needs : evidence from Prussia's royal domains and forests during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries / Takashi Iida -- The role of villagers in domain and state forest management : Japan's path from Tokugawa period to the early twentieth century / Takeshi Aoki -- Forests as commons in early modern China : an analysis of legal cases / Yoshiyuki Aihara -- Conclusion : public goods and economy in the early modern era: new perspectives on modern economies and contemporary environmental concerns / R. Bin Wong.

Scholarly discussions on economic development in history, specifically those linked to industrialization or modern economic growth, have paid great attention to the formation and development of the market economy as a set of institutions able to augment people's welfare. The role of specific nonmarket practices for promoting the economic development and welfare has been a distinct concern, typically involving discussion of the state's economic policies. How have societies tackled those issues that the market did not? To what extent did those solutions reflect the structure of an economy? Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy explores these questions by investigating efforts made for the provision of "public goods" in early modern economies from the perspective of Japanese socioeconomic history during Tokugawa era (1603-1868), and by comparing those cases with others from Europe and China's economic history. The contributors focus on three areas of inquiry-early modern era welfare policies for the poor, infrastructure, and forest management-to provide both a unique perspective on Japanese public finance at local levels and a vantage point outside of Europe to encourage a more global view of early modern political economies that shaped subsequent modern transformations.