An Economic Inquiry into the Nonlinear Behaviors of Nations

Dynamic Developments and the Origins of Civilizations

Rongxing Guo (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

XVII, 294 Seiten

2018 | Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 2017
Springer International Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-319-84009-3 (ISBN)

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This book applies an economic approach to examine the driving forces behind the dynamic behaviors of developing nations. Taking into account initial conditions and environmental and external factors often oversimplified by historians and anthropologists, Guo finds that the rise and fall of civilizations and nations followed an anti-Darwinian process: physical weakness, rather than strength, induced humans to adapt. Cultures facing unfavorable physical and environmental conditions developed complex societies to overcome these challenges, while favorable conditions did not incentivize major economic and cultural change. Over centuries of economic growth and development, nations and civilizations' adaptive behaviors have followed a cyclical path at both the country level and in an international context. This interdisciplinary book incorporates elements of history, anthropology, and development into an astute economic analysis that changes the way we think about the origins and evolutionsof civilizations.

Rongxing Guo is Professor and Head of the Regional Economics Committee in the Regional Science Association of China at Peking University in Beijing, China. He has 30 years of experience teaching and researching in China, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Germany, and the USA. He has led research projects for the OECD and the World Bank, and has undertaken consultation for the Chinese government.

1. Introduction.- 2. Culture as an Anti-Darwinian Process.- 3. Good Environment, Bad Environment.- 4. Living in the Lands Threatened.- 5. Are there any Optimal Strategies for Nations?.- 6. Civilization as a Cyclical Human Process.- 7. China: Short Cycles, Long Cycles.- 8. The Western World: A Longer Cycle.- 9. In Cycles We Trust.

Erscheinungsdatum	05.03.2022
Zusatzinfo	XVII, 294 p. 18 illus., 16 illus. in color.
Verlagsort	Cham
Sprache	englisch
Maße	148 x 210 mm
Gewicht	4049 g
Themenwelt	Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre ► Makroökonomie
Schlagworte	anti-Darwinism • Cultural Complexity • cyclical civilization • long-run economic growth • national behavior
ISBN-10	3-319-84009-6 / 3319840096
ISBN-13	978-3-319-84009-3 / 9783319840093
Zustand	Neuware