This book illuminates the largely neglected contribution of unpaid, primarily female household labour to economic production and living standards in Japan from the early modern period to the eve of World War Two.

The difficulties involved in measuring time devoted to housework and other forms of household labour in the past have meant that most attempts to assess the process of industrialisation have failed to recognise the ways in which such labour is essential to the sustainability and welfare of the population. In this context, Japan presents a significant example of a...

This book examines the early decades of economic nation building in Ireland. It draws on a large amount of previously unstudied archival material to construct a novel contribution to Irish business and economic history that focuses on government relations, business power and wider dynamics of power in a decolonising context.

The book adopts a different approach to the early decades of Irish independence, decentering the typical focus on party political developments, Church-state relations and Anglo-Irish relations. Instead, the book explores the role of Irish businesses and...

This book, the second of two volumes, explores India’s economic development from the Gupta Empire (400AD) through to modern day India. The specific characteristics of economic development in India are examined to help determine development paths India can pursue to create sustainable development in the 21st century. The transition from the primary section to the secondary sector, through the process of industrialisation and in turn the move towards the services sector, is discussed in relation to climate change, technological innovation, and the pressure on resources posed by population...

This book provides a comprehensive study of land property rights and transaction systems in late imperial China, specifically during the period of 1560 – 1950. The book introduces the work of two key scholars working in Chinese economic history and land property history, synthesizing existing research with important new findings.

The book traces the evolving nature of Chinese land property rights over time, discussing changing influences and contexts. It discusses the traditional role of small individual family farms and how these differed from the manor economy of early...

This book offers a comprehensive economic history of emerging market economies post-WWII and identifies a complex web of sustainability problems that face the EMEs going forward. It seeks to present a truly global perspective on the development of EMEs and the long-term trends that have brought EMEs to a critical economic juncture.

The first section of the book charts how EMEs became tightly integrated into the global economy at rapid pace, analysing economic achievements as well as imbalances and sustainability issues that have been generated over time. It considers how EMEs have...

This book surveys the development of the Italian economy over the 150 years since unification, integrating economic analysis with an economic and social history of Italian society.

The book challenges several key assumptions about the growth of the Italian economy, including the notion that Italy has ‘caught up’ with its main Western partners and arguing that in long-run perspective the Italian economy has performed disappointingly. In particular, the book highlights how the role of cultural values, beliefs and preferences are just as important as institutions...

This open access book explores the history of how banks and banking services have become part of everyday life. Taking welfare state Sweden as its setting, the book identifies key cultural challenges and shows how banks and finance companies made inroads into the workplace, the family, spaces of consumption and the world of social movements while also taking on tasks typically associated with state authorities. Focusing on this ‘bankification of everyday life’ reveals the historical links between the post-war welfare state and the financialised everyday culture of the late twentieth...

This book examines the role of international trade and finance in the Greek economy since the beginnings of the Greek state two centuries ago to the present day. It focuses on the benefits and challenges of Greece’s economic dependence on the larger and higher income countries of Western Europe, and in particular the European Union, have played in its economic development.

This book examines the role of international trade and finance in the Greek economy since the beg...