Do political decentralisation and inter state competition favour innovation and growth? There has long been a lively debate surrounding this question, going back to David Hume and Immanuel Kant. This book is a new attempt to test its veracity. The existing literature tends to assume that the...

Contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. Debate and comment about the needham puzzle over the past half-century -- 3. The behavior of the peasants and their households: the logical starting point for the study of the puzzle in Chinese economic history -- 4. The petty peasant economy and the formation of...

'This comprehensive book deals with key issues of rural development. The authors address emergent issues of policy, structure and agency in complex and contrasting settings. Many of the chapters are written by scholars who are well-known in their areas of expertise, and younger scholars...