Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 July 2015
Where Imperialism Could Not Reach examines the impact of the Japanese model of industrialization on China through a history of policy recommendations and economic ideas in practice. In the aftermath of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Chinese regional policymakers learned a Japanese-style industrial policy that focused on the use of exhibitions and schools to disseminate information and stimulate rural innovation. In focusing on the treaty ports and the impact of European and American capitalism that has a larger and more quantifiable source base, many scholars have ignored the vital intra-Asian dimensions of China’s economic development, underpinned by shared position of China and Japan on the global semiperiphery and the pursuit of labor-intensive industrialization focusing on improvements to labor quality. The dissertation also aims to demonstrate the primary importance of information and incentives for innovation—rather than overcoming capital constraints—in Chinese strategies for economic growth.
I would especially like to thank my mentors Jonathan Spence, Peter Perdue, Kaoru Sugihara, and Naomi Lamoreaux for their support. The dissertation benefitted immensely from presentations at the Society for the History of Technology, Association for Asian Studies, American Historical Association, and Socio-Economic History Society of Japan, among other forums. I thank the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation, Japan Foundation, and Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University for their generous financial support, and Peking University, the University of Tokyo, and Academia Sinica for hosting me during my research.
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