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Korean Expansion and Decline from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century: A View Suggested by Adam Smith

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  • HO, JUN SEONG
  • LEWIS, JAMES B.
  • HAN-ROG, KANG

Abstract

The first price runs for Korean rice help us develop a Smithian physiocratic model to explain the low, stable prices of the eighteenth century and the rising, volatile prices of the nineteenth. Ownership rights provided incentives, and productivity after 1600 exceeded subsistence to achieve rural commercialization. Infrastructure investment from the late seventeenth century promoted development and prosperity, but declining investment, dysfunctional institutions, bad weather, and a population crash pushed the economy towards subsistence in the nineteenth. Decline saw rice monoculture, inflation, and price volatility even before imperialism's impact. Parallels with China suggest an “East Asian†premodern agricultural model.

Suggested Citation

  • Ho, Jun Seong & Lewis, James B. & Han-Rog, Kang, 2008. "Korean Expansion and Decline from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth Century: A View Suggested by Adam Smith," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(1), pages 244-282, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:68:y:2008:i:01:p:244-282_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Historical sources of institutional trajectories in economic development: China, Japan and Korea compared," Chapters, in: Comparative Institutional Analysis, chapter 22, pages 439-469, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Masahiko Aoki, 2011. "The Five-Phases of Economic Development and Institutional Evolution in China and Japan," Development Economics Working Papers 23196, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    3. Ma, Debin & Yuan, Weipeng, 2013. "Discovering Chinese Economic History from Footnotes: the Living Tale of a Private Merchant Archive (1800-1850)," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 164, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    4. Duol Kim & Ki‐Joo Park, 2012. "A Cliometric Revolution In The Economic History Of Korea: A Critical Review," Australian Economic History Review, Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 52(1), pages 85-95, March.
    5. Baharom, A.H. & Radam, Alias & Habibullah, M.S. & Hirnissa, M.T, 2009. "The Volatility of Thai Rice Price," MPRA Paper 14113, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Masahiko Aoki, 2013. "Comparative Institutional Analysis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15474.

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