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How Well Did Facts Travel to Support Protracted Debate on the History of the Great Divergence between Western Europe and Imperial China?

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  • Deng, Kent
  • O'Brien, Patrick

Abstract

This paper tackles the issue of how reliable the currently circulated 'facts' really are regarding the 'Great Divergence' debate. Our findings indicate strongly that 'facts' of premodern China are often of low quality and fragmented. Consequently, the application of these 'facts' can be misleading and harmful.

Suggested Citation

  • Deng, Kent & O'Brien, Patrick, 2017. "How Well Did Facts Travel to Support Protracted Debate on the History of the Great Divergence between Western Europe and Imperial China?," MPRA Paper 77290, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:77290
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Great Divergence; historical evidence; GDP estimates;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • P5 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems

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