Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/62636 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 2008-14
Publisher: 
Brown University, Department of Economics, Providence, RI
Abstract: 
This paper empirically tests the predictions of the Malthusian theory with respect to both population dynamics and income per capita stagnation in the pre-Industrial Revolution era. The theory suggests that improvements in technology during this period generated only temporary gains in income per capita, eventually leading to a larger but not richer population. Using exogenous cross-country variations in land productivity and the timing of the Neolithic Revolution, the analysis demonstrates that, in accordance with the Malthusian theory, societies that were characterized by higher land productivity and an earlier onset of agriculture had higher population densities, but similar standards of living, during the time period 1-1500 CE.
Subjects: 
Technological Progress
Population Dynamics
Malthusian Stagnation
Land Productivity
Neolithic Revolution
JEL: 
N10
N30
N50
O10
O40
O50
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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