Commercialization and Agricultural Development

The author attempts to provide a reinterpretation of the impact that the accelerated commercialization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries had on growth and income distribution in the rural economy of central and eastern China. In this work it is demonstrated that the prices of domestic agricultural products rose as China's agricultural markets became integrated with the international economy. These higher prices, in combination with increasing domestic demand, fuelled by the growth of the urban sector, provided the incentive for increased rural household production, which led to increased specialization in rural production.