Vol. 69, No. 4

<Conference report>
Kanji ISHII
The economic history of information: state, market, and enterprise

It is commonly acknowledged that modern capitalist society developed as a result of the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. However, economists and historians have different views of the effect which the recent revolution in information technology will have on this society. The common theme of the seventy-first annual conference of the Socio-Economic History Society, organized by Masaaki TAKASHIMA and Kanji ISHII, was the analysis of the impact of electric communications on society.

Kazuko FURUTA discussed how the Chinese merchants of Shanghai in the latter half of the nineteenth century obtained confidential information from colleagues from the same province, though they obtained general information from the market. Kazuhiro OMORI discussed how Japanese medium and small-sized producers in the interwar period obtained information about foreign markets from trade associations that were supported by the government.

Commenting on these two reports, Kaoru SUGIHARA observed that the flow of economic information in the United Kingdom was quite different from that of China and Japan. Nobuyuki FUJII remarked that the flow of confidential information was closely related to the type of market economy.

<Conference report>
Kazuko FURUTA
Information and institutions in economic history: Chinese merchants and information

This article discusses approaches to a wide variety of historical markets in terms of incompleteness and asymmetry of information. After examining general features of information, it classifies information into two types. Type A consists of 'on spot information', which includes tacit knowledge that nonmembers of a certain club or community have difficulty acquiring, and mutually shared understandings about the basic frameworks for carrying out transactions. Since users have difficult ascertaining the quality of information in advance, certain devices or institutions to certify the quality of the information are necessary. Among Chinese merchants in modern East Asia, the kebang network, made up of individuals from the same native place, was such a device, although the specific institutional form it took varied from society to society.

Type B, on the other hand, consists of general market information such as price, volume of arrival and stock, exchange rates etc. Since there was relatively free access to such information, its prompt utilization was also critical in the Shanghai market. In each transaction both types played important roles. The variation of markets in history therefore derives from the fluctuating balance of these two types of information.

<Conference report>
Kazuhiro OMORI
Overseas information gathering activities between World Wars I and II

During the Meiji era (1868-1912), the government played an important role in obtaining the knowledge and information necessary for small and medium-sized businesses. However, in the period between the two major World Wars, it was the small and medium-sized businesses themselves that took the initiative in gathering relevant information from overseas. Trade organizations in particular played active roles, with some local trade and manufacturers' associations being established to represent the then major exports, such as cotton fabrics, silks (both natural and artificial fabrics), knitwear and ceramic ware, in areas where these industries were thriving.

In the ceramic industry, for example, the industry's trade organization is known to have played roles in settling market upheavals and trade disputes following the Wars, and in helping their members' business development. This organization also conducted product inspections and other activities concerning product quality control. It is very likely that these exertions, coupled with publicizing their industry's products, contributed to an increase in exports. Further, during the period between the World Wars, a number of small and medium-sized ceramic exporters, nurtured by the trade organization, grew to develop informational activities of their own that promoted local business as a whole.

Yoshiteru TAKEI
Child and juvenile labour in the English cotton industry

The English cotton industry relied considerably upon child and juvenile labour throughout most of its existence. Although at first each mule spinner employed just one little piecer under the subcontract system, after the 1830s, as a result of both the enlargement and the increased speed of the mule, one spinner employed three or four little piecers. These were children and juveniles, who were skilled and hard-working but received well below the adult wage. As soon as they became eligible for the adult wage, they were replaced by children who were old enough to work. Almost the same story is applicable to the spinning process.

From the beginning of the twentieth century there were repeated reports of a shortage of juvenile labour. What was the cause? First, there were the poor labour conditions for juveniles; second came the fact that the juvenile labour market had changed to a seller's market. Previously the cotton industry was the only trade in Lancashire that furnished juveniles and children with employment. However, in the twentieth century, employment opportunities appeared in other fields such as the distributive trades, furniture making and miscellaneous metal trades. The preferences of both children and their parents therefore shifted away from the cotton trade.

Masahiko AKATSU
The air pollution problem in the British Industrial Revolution: the enactment of the Smoke Nuisance Abatement Act of 1821

The Industrial Revolution in Britain led to widespread pollution in the form of factory smoke, and raised the issue of social relief. Scholars have argued that the Smoke Nuisance Abatement Act of 1821 resulted from the efforts of just one public-spirited politician. In this paper, however, through examining parliamentary debates on this issue, we analyze how politicians, landlords, and industrialists viewed the damage caused by air pollution, how they developed a framework for redress, and how they interwove their interests into the act.

Landowners, and even the manufacturers who were responsible, recognized that air pollution caused damage to property. For this reason, the act was promoted by landowners and even some industrial capitalists, although they are normally regarded as opponents of smoke regulation. As the smoke prevention technologies of the time might be a source of profit for manufacturers, the act of 1821 did not conflict with their business principles. The owners of private property were merely seeking redress for the damage that they had suffered. It was not until the 1840's that more interventionist legislation aimed at helping urban laborers was contemplated.