We exploit the natural experiment of Japan's opening to international trade to examine how comparative advantage can shape a country's long-run path towards financial development. In the late 19th century, many of Japan's prefectures had a natural comparative advantage in silk reeling. Producing...

We exploit the natural experiment of Japan’s opening to international trade to examine how comparative advantage can shape a country’s long-run path towards financial development. In the late 19th century, many of Japan’s prefectures had a natural comparative advantage in silk reeling....

Sericulture is a women intensive sector where 60% of the workers are either family workers or hired female workers. Productive skill makes the presence of women invincible both in pre and post cocoon sectors. This larger participation is expected to raise their level of empowerment too. Higher...

Production: the development of sericulture and interacting with the natural environment -- Trade: negotiations between central governments and local societies -- Fashion: the desire for luxury silk, the color red, and foreignness -- Regulation: sumptuary laws and the decline of the traditional...

"Red Silk is a history of China's Yangzi Delta silk industry during the wars, crises, and revolutions of the mid-twentieth century. Based on extensive research in Chinese archives and focused on the 1950s, the book compares two very different groups of silk workers and their experiences in the...

"Spontaneous Generation and Marvellous Transformations Under magnification, the fibres of cotton, linen, and wool appear twisted, hatched, knobbly or scaled. In contrast, silk strands were described in 1665 by the first English micrographer as "small, round, hard, transparent, and to their...

Under anti-globalization and isolationism, China is seeking to portray itself as a new leader for globalization under the banner of the Silk Road initiative. Meanwhile, China's traditional and comparatively advantaged industry, silk, has faced dire predicaments and challenges for long time, and...

In any discourse on sociology and anthropology, one fact that clearly emerges is that women can generally be trusted to perform their duties with utmost care and attention. This is more so in the case of agriculture and allied activities. No wonder women are playing a very important role in the...

This article demonstrates that certain developmental initiatives have been playing an important role in the socioeconomic progress of rural masses in South India and typically involve a number of focused projects. Development of sericulture is shown as a key strategy for supporting backward...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan's Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan’s Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

Regional differences in banking integration determined how Japan's Great Recession after 1990 spread across the country. We explain these differences with the emergence of silk reeling as the main export industry after Japan's opening to trade in the 19th century. The silk-exporting prefectures...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan's Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan's Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan’s Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

Sharon Farmer analyzes the evidence concerning the medieval silk industry, adding new perspectives to our understanding of medieval French history, luxury trade, labor migration, intercultural exchange, and gendered work

We introduce the current status and advantages of the development of silk industry in Guangxi Province of China. We also analyze the tremendous achievements of Guangxi silk industry. Finally, this paper forecasts the future of semitropical silk industry in Guangxi Province, and puts forward the...

How do financial development and financial integration interact? We focus on Japan’s Great Recession after 1990 to study this question. Regional differences in banking integration affected how the recession spread across the country: financing frictions for credit-dependent firms were more...

On October 13-14, 2005 Mau in Uttar Pradesh, India experienced widespread violence and communal tension. Mau has a long history of communal tensions. It is largely rural district with a minority of Muslims who are or used to be silk weavers. With the changing fortunes of the silk industry, there...