A View of the Occupational Structure in Imperial and Republican China (1640–1952)

TY - JOUR

T1 - A View of the Occupational Structure in Imperial and Republican China (1640–1952)

AU - Guo, Yongqin

AU - Zhang, Zipeng

AU - van Leeuwen, Bas

AU - XU, Yi

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Despite being considered a prime indicator of economic change, the occupational structure does not figure prominently in the debate regarding the economic development of early modern China. One reason is the virtual absence of occupational data before the start of the twentieth century. In this paper, we make a first attempt to sketch the occupational structure between ca. 1640 and 1952 using a variety of unique and rather fragmented occupational sources. We find that the share of persons working in agriculture remained stable until the mid‐nineteenth century, with the share in industry showing some growth thereafter.

AB - Despite being considered a prime indicator of economic change, the occupational structure does not figure prominently in the debate regarding the economic development of early modern China. One reason is the virtual absence of occupational data before the start of the twentieth century. In this paper, we make a first attempt to sketch the occupational structure between ca. 1640 and 1952 using a variety of unique and rather fragmented occupational sources. We find that the share of persons working in agriculture remained stable until the mid‐nineteenth century, with the share in industry showing some growth thereafter.

M3 - Article

SN - 0004-8992

VL - 59

SP - 134

JO - Australian Economic History Review

JF - Australian Economic History Review

IS - 2

ER -