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Regional inequality and migration in prewar Japan, 1890-1940

Author

Listed:
  • Ralph Paprzycki

    (Hitotsubashi University)

  • Kyoji Fukao

    (Hitotsubashi University)

  • Jean-Pascal Bassino

    (ENS de Lyon)

  • Tokihiko Settsu

    (Musashi University)

  • Tangjun Yuan

    (Fudan University)

Abstract

"We analyze the changing patterns of regional inequality during the initial phase of Japanese industrialization on the basis of new estimates of industry-level Japanese GDP constructed for the benchmark years 1890, 1909, 1925, 1935, and 1940 for each of the 47 prefectures. No “Kuznets” inverted U-curve is observed during the period 1890-1940 in terms of the coefficient of variation of prefecture-level per capita GDP, but rather a slow decline, reflecting a contraction in within-industry productivity across prefectures. We also estimate in- and out-migration by prefecture and find that sizable population flows took place from the poorest rural areas to the industrializing urban areas. We estimate the contribution of changes in productivity, industrial structure, and population to the observed convergence and find that internal migration played an important role, as it did during the two decades of high-speed economic growth in the 1950s and 1960s."

Suggested Citation

  • Ralph Paprzycki & Kyoji Fukao & Jean-Pascal Bassino & Tokihiko Settsu & Tangjun Yuan, 2013. "Regional inequality and migration in prewar Japan, 1890-1940," Working Papers 13012, Economic History Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehs:wpaper:13012
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    spatial inequality; migration; convergence; industrial structure;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N15 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

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