China's long-term economic development : how have economy and governance evolved since 500BC?

Contents: 1. Introduction -- 2. Debate and comment about the needham puzzle over the past half-century -- 3. The behavior of the peasants and their households: the logical starting point for the study of the puzzle in Chinese economic history -- 4. The petty peasant economy and the formation of Chinese-style governmental governance -- 5. The dynamic evolution of the Chinese governance pattern in each dynasty -- 6. Chinese climatic and environmental changes after the tenth century and their impacts on the Chinese governance pattern -- 7. The rise of Western Europe after the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and its challenges to the Chinese governance pattern -- 8. Empirical evidence of the Chinese governments' governance and long-term economic development -- 9. The reform and opening-up: a great transformation of the governance pattern in Chinese history -- 10. Where does the future path of Chinese governance lie? -- Index.