War and economy. Rediscovering the eighteenth-century military entrepreneur

Abstract

The detrimental effects traditionally assigned to warfare in the development of pre-industrial economies have obscured the prominent role that military entrepreneurs played in economic development in this period. Historiography minimises the extent to which war and the concomitant strengthening of the central state provided a whole new range of opportunities for capital investment, a tendency that has been strengthened by the paradigm of Redlich’s ‘decline of the soldier-entrepreneur’ and the technological determinism of the debate on the Military Revolution among others. The aim of this introduction is to look into the background of this relative lack of interest and to reaffirm the mutual dependence of eighteenth-century state-formation and the business of war.     

Religious minority in business history: The case of Old Believers

The role of the Old Believers (OB) in the development of Russian industry has been noted by many historians; however, empirical research on the topic is scarce. Using official censuses, archive sources, and industrial reports, the role of OB enterprises in the Moscow textile industry for the period 1832–1890 was examined. The analysis highlighted the rise and fall of the participation of OB in the textile industry, contrasting the findings of other researchers, which were often exaggerated. The findings can be explained by social networks and trust which arise from the minority status, whereas the relative decline is related to structural changes and preferences of OB to family-type of business.     

中国经济学教育面向新世纪的思考

回顾建国以来我国现代经济学教育走过的道路,要对新世纪中国经济学的教育进行展望,中国经济学教育界有一个基本的问题需要澄清,这就是什么是“经济学”。作者从经济学发展的历史轨迹中去寻找答案,认为所谓的“经济学”实际上是一个由问题、工具、理论等三个不同阶段构成的生动的“过程”。借助这个“过程论”,作者分析了中国经济学界的一些问题,并据此对新世纪中国经济学的教育进行了展望。     

结构问题是21世纪中国人口的核心问题

认为数量问题是 2 0世纪中国人口问题的关键 ,其标志是决定人口数量的主要因素——生育率和死亡率都在 2 0世纪经历了以人口转变为重要概括的历史性转折。虽然人口数量问题并没有随人口转变的完成退出历史舞台 ,但其地位已发生改变。在 2 1世纪结构问题将成为中国人口问题的核心 ,并且分别表现在人口年龄结构、人口地域结构以及人口性别结构等诸多方面     

20世纪前期买办职业收入分析

20世纪前期，买办的职业报酬制度达到成熟和完善。买办的职业收入主要由薪金和佣金构成，还有一部分被外商默许的暗中收入。佣金是多数买办的主要收入，是买办经纪人身份的体现；薪金是买办与外商雇佣关系的一种象征。买办收入的复杂挂还在于不同行业的买办收入来源不一，且差距较大。     

Geography, insolation, and vitamin D in nineteenth century US African-American and white statures

Using a new source of nineteenth century US state prison records I contrast the biological living conditions of comparable African-Americans and whites. Although blacks and whites today in the US reach similar terminal statures, nineteenth century African-American statures were consistently shorter than those of whites. Greater insolation (vitamin D production) is shown to be associated with taller black and white statures and a considerable share of the stature difference between US blacks and whites was attributable to insolation and vitamin D production. Black statures increased during the antebellum period, while white statures declined. Black and white statures both decreased after the Civil War. Farmers were taller than workers in other occupations, and an alternative explanation for stature variation by social class is considered.     

20世纪初俄国军事经费的来源

军事经费的来源毫无疑问是任何一场战争都必须面对的一个基础性问题，寻找军事经费的来源是财政备战的最重要因素，没有相应的军事经费，战争就无从谈起。俄国在18世纪初成为世界强国之后，为了维持它的强国地位，坚持对外扩张的政策，连年战事不断。进入20世纪，俄国经历了日俄战争和第一次世界大战。然而对于财政经济状况不断恶化的俄国来说，面临战争经费短缺是很正常的，而筹措战争经费则属难事。俄国战争经费来源主要有税收、债务和发行纸币三个方面。     

STATE EDUCATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: DEMANDED OR IMPOSED?

This article challenges the popular perception that the free market was unable to supply education to meet the needs of nineteenth-century Britain. Provision of education in fact largely accorded with parental demand, and this level of voluntary consumption was optimal for the time. Government intervention could therefore be ineffective at best, if not actively harmful.     

Social Mobility in Nineteenth Century Rural Sweden – A Micro Level Analysis

Abstract

Pre-industrial rural societies have often been pictured as stationary and immobile both in geographical and social terms. In the last decades this image has begun to change, especially as regards geographical mobility, while our knowledge of social mobility of rural pre-industrial Europe is still rudimentary. This study focuses on social attainment and mobility in a rural community of nineteenth-century southern Sweden, making use of high quality micro-level demographic and socioeconomic data. We show that intergenerational social mobility was quite frequent. Downward mobility was more prevalent than upward, and also increased over time. Social attainment and mobility were determined by a combination of inherited factors and individual agency. Social origin was of major importance, and so was the social origin of the spouse, which points to the crucial role played by partner selection in determining individual social outcome. Availability of networks as measured by place of birth also played a role in social achievement.     

新世纪初十年沈从文研究综合述评

新世纪初十年,沈从文研究不仅广阔复杂、丰富深刻,而且在诸多方面都取得显著进步。这主要表现为沈从文思想及其创作价值研究获得很大进展,沈从文与传统文化及湘西地域文化之间的特殊关系得到深入阐释,沈从文与国内外作家的比较研究愈加广泛深刻,沈从文作家之外的工作业绩研究成果彰显,沈从文分期研究与《边城》等单篇作品研究喜获丰收。