Did Civilian Granaries Affect Social Stability? Empirical Evidence from the Qing Dynasty (1817–1856)

Fang Wang, Degang Miao, Xiaobo He

Author information


a School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China

b School of Economics, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai 200433, China

c School of International Economics and Trade, Shanghai Finance University, Shanghai 201209, China; Global Food Studies, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia

E-mail: wangfang@mail.shufe.edu.cn (Fang Wang) , ndgshufe@hotmail.com (Degang Miao), xiaobo.he@adelaide.edu.au (Xiaobo He)


Abstract


Based on historical panel data of social instability, civilian granary and climate shocks in the 17 Provinces of the Qing from 1817 to 1856, this paper examines the correlation between social instability and civilian granary holdings. It shows that the civilian granary system reduced social instability in the Qing Dynasty, while climate shocks raised social instability. Moreover, this paper shows that civilian granaries mitigated the effects of climate shocks on social instability.


Keywords


climate shocks, civilian granaries, social instability 


Cite this article


Fang Wang, Degang Miao, Xiaobo He. Did Civilian Granaries Affect Social Stability? Empirical Evidence from the Qing Dynasty (1817–1856). Front. Econ. China, 2015, 10(3): 483‒508 https://doi.org/10.3868/s060-004-015-0021-5 


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