Standards of living in eighteenth century China: regional differences, temporal trends, and incomplete evidence / Kenneth Pomeranz -- Farm labour productivity in Jiangnan, 1620-1850 / Li Bozhong -- Wages, inequality, and pre-industrial growth in Japan, 1727-1894 / Osamu Saito -- Agriculture,...

When did Europe pull ahead of Asia in terms of living standards? A number of well-known scholars compare economic and demographic indicators of well-being in the pre-industrial period. The emerging picture is not one of great differences, but of considerable similarities in standard of living...

Intro -- Contents -- Series Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Contributors -- Malthus's Perspective -- 1 New Malthusian Perspectives -- I Comparative Geographies -- 2 Living Standards and Economic Stress -- 3 Economic Stress and Mortality -- 4 Family and Community -- 5 Society and Mortality -- II...