Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) in China was the deadliest civil war in history. This paper provides evidence that this cataclysmic event significantly shaped the Malthusian transition and long-term development that followed, especially in areas...

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Main Authors:	Xu, L. Colin, Yang, Li
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:	TAIPING REBELLION STATE CAPACITY PROPERTY RIGHTS MALTHUS DEVELOPMENT LOCAL GOVERNANCE FISCAL TRENDS FISCAL MANAGEMENT BANDITRY DECENTRALIZATION
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/970791540230641485/Stationary-Bandits-State-Capacity-and-the-Malthusian-Transition-The-Lasting-Impact-of-the-Taiping-Rebellion http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30602

id	okr-10986-30602
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-306022021-06-08T14:42:48Z Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion Xu, L. Colin Yang, Li TAIPING REBELLION STATE CAPACITY PROPERTY RIGHTS MALTHUS DEVELOPMENT LOCAL GOVERNANCE FISCAL TRENDS FISCAL MANAGEMENT BANDITRY DECENTRALIZATION The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) in China was the deadliest civil war in history. This paper provides evidence that this cataclysmic event significantly shaped the Malthusian transition and long-term development that followed, especially in areas where the experiences that stemmed from the rebellion led to better property rights, stronger local fiscal capacity, and rule by leaders with longer-term governance horizons. More than one and a half centuries after the rebellion’s end, population increases from pre-war levels remain 38 to 67 percent lower in areas that were affected by the rebellion than in those that were unaffected. Moreover, areas that were affected by the rebellion have, on average, greater fiscal capacity and modern economic sectors to the present day. Two channels for the effects of the rebellion are stationary banditry (manifested by varying property rights and the rebellion area's proximity to the Taiping capital), and the wartime strengthening of fiscal capacity. The analysis shows evidence of complementarity between wartime state capacity and local institutions, and of the long-term benefits of fiscal decentralization in a large country. Furthermore, initial human capital is strongly associated with long-term development. 2018-10-24T17:18:30Z 2018-10-24T17:18:30Z 2018-10 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/970791540230641485/Stationary-Bandits-State-Capacity-and-the-Malthusian-Transition-The-Lasting-Impact-of-the-Taiping-Rebellion http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30602 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8620 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper East Asia and Pacific China
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	TAIPING REBELLION STATE CAPACITY PROPERTY RIGHTS MALTHUS DEVELOPMENT LOCAL GOVERNANCE FISCAL TRENDS FISCAL MANAGEMENT BANDITRY DECENTRALIZATION
spellingShingle	TAIPING REBELLION STATE CAPACITY PROPERTY RIGHTS MALTHUS DEVELOPMENT LOCAL GOVERNANCE FISCAL TRENDS FISCAL MANAGEMENT BANDITRY DECENTRALIZATION Xu, L. Colin Yang, Li Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
geographic_facet	East Asia and Pacific China
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8620
description	The Taiping Rebellion (1851-1864) in China was the deadliest civil war in history. This paper provides evidence that this cataclysmic event significantly shaped the Malthusian transition and long-term development that followed, especially in areas where the experiences that stemmed from the rebellion led to better property rights, stronger local fiscal capacity, and rule by leaders with longer-term governance horizons. More than one and a half centuries after the rebellion’s end, population increases from pre-war levels remain 38 to 67 percent lower in areas that were affected by the rebellion than in those that were unaffected. Moreover, areas that were affected by the rebellion have, on average, greater fiscal capacity and modern economic sectors to the present day. Two channels for the effects of the rebellion are stationary banditry (manifested by varying property rights and the rebellion area's proximity to the Taiping capital), and the wartime strengthening of fiscal capacity. The analysis shows evidence of complementarity between wartime state capacity and local institutions, and of the long-term benefits of fiscal decentralization in a large country. Furthermore, initial human capital is strongly associated with long-term development.
format	Working Paper
author	Xu, L. Colin Yang, Li
author_facet	Xu, L. Colin Yang, Li
author_sort	Xu, L. Colin
title	Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
title_short	Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
title_full	Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
title_fullStr	Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
title_full_unstemmed	Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion
title_sort	stationary bandits, state capacity, and the malthusian transition : the lasting impact of the taiping rebellion
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2018
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/970791540230641485/Stationary-Bandits-State-Capacity-and-the-Malthusian-Transition-The-Lasting-Impact-of-the-Taiping-Rebellion http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30602
_version_	1764472470828482560

Stationary Bandits, State Capacity, and the Malthusian Transition : The Lasting Impact of the Taiping Rebellion

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