About the Author
Thomas P. Lyons is Professor of Economics at Cornell University. He is a former Director of the Cornell East Asia Program and former Director of Undergraduate Studies in Economics. For the past thirty years, he has taught Cornell's survey course on the economy of China. He has also taught at Dartmouth College and Columbia University.
Before writing China Maritime Customs, Townships in Fujian, and Fujian before Reform (all published by Willow Creek), Lyons wrote four books about the Chinese economy and edited, with Professor Victor Nee of Cornell, a volume about economic reform in southern China. He has contributed numerous articles to professional journals, including China Quarterly, Economic Development and Cultural Change, Journal of Comparative Economics, and Economic Geography, and has served on several editorial boards, including that of China Economic Review.
Lyons is interested primarily in spatial aspects of China's development and in the use of Geographic Information Systems to organize and study Chinese economic data. Much of his recent research concerns Fujian province—economic history, as well as contemporary economic development. The substance of Townships and Fujian before Reform reflects his belief that systematic examination of provincial and subprovincial data can yield important insights into China's development experience.
From reviews of earlier books by Thomas P. Lyons
Economic Integration and Planning in Maoist China (Columbia, 1987)
“A substantial contribution to our understanding of these issues [national and local self-reliance in China’s economy]”—Journal of Asian Studies
Poverty and Growth in a South China County (Cornell, 1994)
“This very useful study is a valuable addition to the literature on local economic development in China”—China Journal
The Economic Transformation of South China (with Victor Nee, Cornell, 1994)
“Offers an excellent set of readings for readers interested in the patterns and dynamics of Chinese development....A solidly packed volume.”—Journal of Asian Business
The Economic Geography of Fujian: A Sourcebook (two volumes, Cornell, 1995 and 1997)
“The first of its kind…. It fulfils an important niche in the geographical literature related to China”—China Quarterly
From reviews of China Maritime Customs (Willow Creek)
“Any historian with a serious interest in China's modern economic history will be grateful for Thomas Lyons's study of the trade statistics produced by the Chinese Maritime Customs Service. Those wishing to use the Customs' statistics will find it indispensable.... This book should be included on all reading lists for introductory courses to research on Chinese history.” China Quarterly
“All scholars will be grateful to Lyons for making available such a thorough guide to the Customs statistics.... In the future, scholars using these statistics will, at the minimum, be more aware of the institutional origins of the figures and the pitfalls involved in their use.” EH.Net
“The meticulous care and procedural transparency that Lyons has maintained for constructing the data and statistics is exemplary for future quantitative studies of Chinese economic history.” Journal of Economic History