Public goods provision in the early modern economy : comparative perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe

"This volume compares early modern efforts to provide "public goods" defined as non-market mediated goods not limited to personal relations such as kinship. We examine poverty and famine relief, infrastructure, and forestry in East Asia and Europe, using Japan's Tokugawa era (1603-1868) as a benchmark from which to consider public goods provision in Prussia, China, and England. Japan is similar in size to a European country and linked to China through shared beliefs and practices. Such an approach allows us to mediate comparisons made directly between China and Europe and to avoid taking England as the norm for an 'advanced' society." - Provided by publisher