"Several studies link modern economic performance to institutions transplanted by European colonizers and here we extend this line of research to Asia. Japan imposed its system of well-defined property rights in land on some of its Asian colonies, including Korea, Taiwan and Palau. In 1939 Japan...

Preface -- Chapter 1. A Preliminary Introduction -- Chapter 2. Puzzles of the Monetary Regime in Premodern China -- Chapter 3. The Divergence between China and Japan -- Chapter 4. The Worst Currency or The Best Arrangement? -- Chapter 5. An Epilogue -- Index.