Dynamics and Stagnation in the Malthusian Epoch / Quamrul Ashraf, Oded Galor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ashraf, Quamrul.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Galor, Oded.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w17037.

NBER working paper series no. w17037

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2011.

Summary:

This paper examines the central hypothesis of the influential Malthusian theory, according to which improvements in the technological environment during the pre-industrial era had generated only temporary gains in income per capita, eventually leading to a larger, but not significantly richer, population. Exploiting exogenous sources of cross-country variations in land productivity and the level of technological advancement the analysis demonstrates that, in accordance with the theory, technological superiority and higher land productivity had significant positive effects on population density but insignificant effects on the standard of living, during the time period 1-1500 CE.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2011.