Chinese Agriculture in the 1930s : Investigations Into John Lossing Buck’s Rediscovered ‘Land Utilization in China’ Microdata

This edited volume analyzes land utilization data from farm surveys taken in China between 1929 and 1933. This data, which was the foundation for John Lossing Buck’s seminal work __Land Utilization in China__ (1937), was thought lost to history until rediscovered in 2000. The book presents the first modern analyses of agricultural economics in Republican China using Buck’s micro-data, covering important topics such as nutritional poverty, tenancy issues, land productivity, surplus labor, workers’ incomes, credit supply, and regional differences. Through using modern analytical methods, this book presents a more accurate picture of the agricultural economy in the Republican Era and will be of particular interest to agricultural economists, economic historians, and Chinese studies scholars. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxii China’s Agriculture in the 1930s: An Overview (Calum G. Turvey)....Pages 1-32 John Lossing Buck and Land Utilization in China (Calum G. Turvey)....Pages 33-54 Calamities and Conflict Affecting Rural China 1929–1933 (Calum G. Turvey)....Pages 55-83 The Discovery and Restoration of Buck’s Original Data (Hao Hu, Mikio Suga, Weiwei Zheng, Minjie Yu, Funing Zhong)....Pages 85-112 Reliability of John Lossing Buck’s Land Utilization Survey Data: A Preliminary Test of Grain Yields (Funing Zhong, Hao Hu, Qun Su)....Pages 113-119 Tenancy Issues in Northwest China During the Republican Era (Minjie Yu, Hao Hu)....Pages 121-137 Regional Differences in Surplus Agricultural Labor During China’s Republican Era, Based on Buck’s Rural Survey Data (Hao Hu, Weiwei Zheng)....Pages 139-152 Agricultural Poverty and Inequality in 1930s China: Estimates of Gini and Engel Coefficients from Buck’s Data (Hao Hu, Zhongwei Yang)....Pages 153-169 An Analysis on the Inverse Relationship between Yield and Farm Size in Rural China in the 1930s (Hisatoshi Hoken, Qun Su)....Pages 171-191 The Relationship Between Farm Size and Land Productivity in Early Twentieth-Century China (Hao Hu, Minjie Yu)....Pages 193-224 Farm Credit Demand and Supply in 1930s China (Calum G. Turvey, Hong Fu)....Pages 225-257 The Change in China’s Cropland Utilization and Productivity Over Nearly a Century in China: A Comparison Study Based on Buck’s Survey (Hao Hu, Feng Zhang)....Pages 259-272 A Comparison of Certain Changes in Chinese Agricultural Operations between Buck’s Republican Era and Modern China (Hao Hu, Funing Zhong)....Pages 273-290 Concluding Thoughts (Hao Hu, Funing Zhong, Calum G. Turvey)....Pages 291-301 Back Matter ....Pages 303-311