Toward the Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy
Masayuki Tanimoto
Chapter from the book: Tanimoto M. & Wong R. 2019. Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy: Comparative Perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe.
Part of
Chapter from the book: Tanimoto M. & Wong R. 2019. Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy: Comparative Perspectives from Japan, China, and Europe.
This introduction, by Masayuki Tanimoto, explores the underlying concept of the volume, public goods, and it explains the adopted approach of setting Japan as a benchmark. By “public,” we mean the situation in which people obtain goods and services from providers such as the government or fiscal state, rather than from a market transaction or direct provision based on personal relationships. Using Japan’s case as the reference point highlights the diverse approaches to public-goods provision across societies without invoking an “advanced” Western Europe as the standard of excellence against which other societies are typically found wanting.
Tanimoto, M. 2019. Toward the Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy. In: Tanimoto M. & Wong R (eds.), Public Goods Provision in the Early Modern Economy. California: University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.63.a
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Published on Jan. 15, 2019