Wages, Prices, and Living Standards in China, 1738-1925: In Comparison with Europe, Japan, and India
@article{Allen2009WagesPA, title={Wages, Prices, and Living Standards in China, 1738-1925: In Comparison with Europe, Japan, and India}, author={Robert C. Allen and Jean-Pascal Bassino and Debin Ma and Christine Moll-Murata and Jan Luiten van Zanden}, journal={Economic History eJournal}, year={2009} }
This article develops data on the history of wages and prices in Beijing, Canton, and Suzhou/Shanghai in China from the eighteenth century to the twentieth, and compares them with leading cities in Europe, Japan, and India in terms of nominal wages, the cost of living, and the standard of living. In the eighteenth century, the real income of building workers in Asia was similar to that of workers in the backward parts of Europe but far behind that in the leading economies in north-western…
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