| NSF Org: |
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 25, 2019 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 25, 2019 |
| Award Number: | 1919402 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Nancy Lutz
nlutz@nsf.gov (703)292-7280 SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2019 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $18,546.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $18,546.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
5801 S ELLIS AVE CHICAGO IL US 60637-5418 (773)702-8669 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
29 Wangjiang Road Chengdu, Sichuan CH |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Economics |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
This doctoral dissertation research improvement grant will fund data collection for a study of the relationship between between modern financial markets and macroeconomic growth. The goal is to understand the role a vigorous and competitive financial system can play in facilitating economic development. The PI will develop a new data set using historical records and will use the data to test theories about the relationship between financial markets, politics, and economic development. The results will help us understand the advantages of economic liberalization for global economic well-being.
The doctoral student will focus his efforts on a specific promising case: Sichuan, China from 1933 to 1942. During this period, China made efforts to build a financial sector capable of accumulating capital and funding needed industrialization. Sichuan was China's most populous province, and the local government experimented with fiat currency and initiatives to expand the capital base of the private banking sector. The project will use archival records to construct data on Sichaun's prewar financial system, including regional interest rates, exchange rates, prices of local government debt, and balances of banknotes outstanding, as well as variables measure the political and infrastructure landscape. The team will use the data to determine the role of private enterprise in spurring the early stages of economic growth in Sichuan. The results may therefore be transformative for our understanding of the importance of economic liberalization around the globe.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This grant helped fund dissertation research for Matthew Lowenstein of the University of Chicago's Department of History under the supervision of Dr. Kenneth Pomeranz. It funded the creation of a database of financial market prices in Chongqing during the Great Depression, namely from the years 1928-1935. Most of this data was taken from Sichuan Yuebao and Sichuan Yuekan, available at the University of Chicago library. Originally, the intent was to source a greater amount of data from archival sources in China. Unfortunately, the global pandemic sealed off all travel to China, and suspended research overseas. Nevertheless, the project resulted in the first database of remittance, interest rates, exchange rates, and public debt prices in Chinese Republican-era Chongqing. The findings suggest that the main cause of financial instability in the 1930s southwest was not, as has previously been assumed, the Great Depression. Rather, it was civil war and especially the Communist Long March. However, the database is not yet complete enough to form clear or robust conclusions about the depression, and thus has not formed part of Lowenstein's dissertation. Nevertheless, it is part of a promising ongoing study, and is expected to be submitted in article form in a distinguished journal--ideally Journal of Economic History--in the next few years.
Last Modified: 01/27/2022
Modified by: Matthew Lowenstein
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