The Ability in Antiquity of Some Agrarian Societies to Avoid the Malthusian Trap and Develop - Université de La Réunion
Journal Articles Forum for Social Economics Year : 2017

The Ability in Antiquity of Some Agrarian Societies to Avoid the Malthusian Trap and Develop

Abstract

This article presents a simple economic theory (and associated evidence) to explain how some early agriculturally based preindustrial societies developed despite most of their population being subject to Malthusian dynamics. Their development depended on a dominant class limiting its membership and extracting an economic surplus which it could use (among other things) to accumulate capital and advance knowledge thereby adding to this surplus. The evolution of urban centers facilitated this development process. Extraction of the agricultural surplus prevented increased population from dissipating this surplus and curtailing development. Examples are given of early economically extractive and non-inclusive societies which were long lasting. Their persistence is at odds with the views of some contemporary development economists about the development prospects of these types of societies.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
The Ability in Antiquity of Some Agrarian Societies to Avoid the Malthusian Trap and Develop.pdf (1.15 Mo) Télécharger le fichier
Origin Files produced by the author(s)
Loading...

Dates and versions

hal-02145482 , version 1 (03-06-2019)

Identifiers

Cite

Clement Allan Tisdell, Serge Svizzero. The Ability in Antiquity of Some Agrarian Societies to Avoid the Malthusian Trap and Develop. Forum for Social Economics, 2017, pp.1-26. ⟨10.1080/07360932.2017.1356344⟩. ⟨hal-02145482⟩
67 View
619 Download

Altmetric

Share

More