Technology, Skills and the Pre-Modern Economy in the East and the West, Vol. 10 (Global Economic History Series) (Global Economic History, 10)

'technology, Skills And The Pre-modern Economy' Investigates, Through Regional Studies And Paired Comparisons, How Technological Skills And Knowledge Were Reproduced And Disseminated In The Advanced Agrarian Societies Of China, India, Russia And Europe In The Centuries Before The Industrial Revolution--provided By Publisher. Edited By Maarten Prak And Jan Luiten Van Zanden. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. CONTENTS FOREWORD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABOUT THE AUTHORS LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND ILLUSTRATIONS INTRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN CAPITAL FORMATION IN THE EAST AND WEST BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION Maarten Prak and Jan Luiten van Zanden Global History and Technology Technology, Skills, and Science Collective Invention Technological Leadership and Clustering Human Capital Formation Circulation of Knowledge Organisation of Labour Comparative History and the Great Divergence Conclusion PART ONE REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES CHAPTER ONE TRANSFERRING TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND INNOVATING IN EUROPE, C.1200-C.1800 Stephan R. Epstein Introduction Acquiring Experiential Knowledge Collective Knowledge and Technical Heuristics Knowledge Sharing Predictability, Codification and Innovation Drawings and Models as Heuristic Devices Experimentation Spatial Transfer of Technical Knowledge Texts and Patents Transferring Skilled Technicians: When and Why Did Craft Guilds Oppose Technical Innovation? Transferring Skilled Technicians: How Did It Work? Conclusions CHAPTER TWO APPRENTICESHIP AND INDUSTRIALIZATION IN INDIA, 1600-1930 Tirthankar Roy Craft Culture in Early Modern India Craft Culture and Apprenticeship in Colonial India Apprenticeship and Modern Industry Conclusion CHAPTER THREE SKILLS, ‘GUILDS’, AND DEVELOPMENT: ASKING EPSTEIN’S QUESTIONS TO EAST ASIAN INSTITUTIONS Kenneth Pomeranz Introduction The Rise of Guilds in Late Imperial China: Trade-based and Native Place-based Organisations Guild Functions, Economic and Otherwise City and Countryside Skill Formation and Technological Creativity Did Guilds Obstruct Technical Learning? Migration and Skill Diffusion in More Recent Times Skill Acquisition in Rural Industries Japan Conclusion PART TWO INDUSTRY PERSPECTIVES CHAPTER FOUR MEGA-STRUCTURES OF THE MIDDLE AGES: THE CONSTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS IN EUROPE AND ASIA, C.1000-1500* Maarten Prak Introduction Church Building The Workforce Knowledge Apprenticeship and Other Sources of Information Conclusions CHAPTER FIVE THE TECHNOLOGY AND TEACHING OF SHIPBUILDING 1300-1800 Richard W. Unger Introduction Developments in Ship Design East and West: Cross-fertilization of Techniques Creation and Transfer of Knowledge Transferring Knowledge with the Written Word Disincentives for Technical Advance: Guilds and Market Structure Incentives for Technical Advance: Guilds, Profits and Training Conclusions CHAPTER SIX MOVING MACHINE-MAKERS: CIRCULATION OF KNOWLEDGE ON MACHINE-BUILDING IN CHINA AND EUROPE BETWEEN C. 1400 AND THE EARLY NINETEENTH CENTURY Karel Davids Introduction Circulation of Knowledge on Machine-making in China, Late Fourteenth – Early Nineteenth Centuries Circulation of Knowledge on Machine-making in Europe, Late Fourteenth – Early Nineteenth Centuries Conclusion: Comparative Perspectives on the Circulation of Knowledge in China and Europe CHAPTER SEVEN GUILDS AND APPRENTICESHIP IN CHINA AND EUROPE: THE JINGDEZHEN AND EUROPEAN CERAMICS INDUSTRIES Christine Moll-Murata Introduction Porcelain: Definitions and Early Exchange between China, the Middle East, and Europe Jingdezhen: General Setting and Supply for the European Market Number of Kilns and Size of Workforce Total Output Population Figures Professional Training in the Jingdezhen Porcelain Industry Alternatives to Guild-organised Apprenticeship Delft: General Setting Number of Enterprises and Size of Workforce Guilds and Apprenticeship in Delft Starting from Scratch: The Meissen and Vienna Porcelain Manufactures Conclusion Appendix Jiangxi Province with Jingdezhen and Home Places of the Common-origin Guilds. CHAPTER EIGHT LABOUR RELATIONS, EFFICIENCY AND THE GREAT DIVERGENCE: COMPARING PRE-INDUSTRIAL BRICKMAKING ACROSS EURASIA, 1500-2000 Gijs Kessler and Jan Lucassen The Historical Dynamics of Co-operation in Production A Global, Comparative Perspective Brickmaking in Western Europe from the Late Middle Ages until the Nineteenth Century Division of Labour and Co-operation in Production Production and Productivity Russian Brickmaking between the Late Sixteenth and the Early Twentieth Centuries Division of Labour and Co-operation in Production Production and Productivity Indian Brickmaking from c. 1800 Division of Labour and Co-operation in Production Conclusion CHAPTER NINE EXPLAINING THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF BOOK PRODUCTION BEFORE 1800 Jan Luiten van Zanden Introduction Three Diffusion Processes Quality Font Size Relative Prices Size of the Market Conclusion Bibliography of the books and articles published by S.R. Epstein INDEX Technology, Skills and the Pre-Modern Economy investigates how technological skills and knowledge were reproduced and disseminated in the advanced agrarian societies of China, India, Russia and Europe in the centuries before the Industrial Revolution. The book offers regional surveys of Europe, China and India, as well as comparative studies of building, porcelain manufacturing, instrument making, printing, and shipbuilding. The authors engage with the on-going debate about the ‘great divergence'between Asia and Europe, and its possible causes. Technology has so far had a minor role in that debate. This book is bound to change that, through the bold claims made by various contributors.Contributors are: Karel Davids, S.R. Epstein †, Gijs Kessler, Jan Lucassen, Christine Moll-Murata, Patrick O'Brien, Kenneth Pomeranz, Maarten Prak, Tirthankar Roy, Richard Unger, and Jan Luiten van Zanden.