The Neolithic Revolution from a Price-Theoretic Perspective

TY - UNPB

T1 - The Neolithic Revolution from a Price-Theoretic Perspective

AU - Guzmán, Ricardo Andrés

AU - Weisdorf, Jacob Louis

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - The adoption of agriculture during the Neolithic triggered the first demographic explosion in history. When fertility returned to its original level, early farmers found themselves more poorly nourished than hunter-gatherers and working longer hours to make ends meet. We develop a dynamic, price-theoretic model that rationalizes these events: in the short-run, fertility and utility increase; in the long-run, consumption, leisure, and utility fall below their initial levels. This, we argue, can be attributed to the rise in child labor productivity that followed the adoption of agriculture. Counter-intuitively, an increase in the productivity of children may lead to a permanent reduction in utility.

AB - The adoption of agriculture during the Neolithic triggered the first demographic explosion in history. When fertility returned to its original level, early farmers found themselves more poorly nourished than hunter-gatherers and working longer hours to make ends meet. We develop a dynamic, price-theoretic model that rationalizes these events: in the short-run, fertility and utility increase; in the long-run, consumption, leisure, and utility fall below their initial levels. This, we argue, can be attributed to the rise in child labor productivity that followed the adoption of agriculture. Counter-intuitively, an increase in the productivity of children may lead to a permanent reduction in utility.

KW - Faculty of Social Sciences

KW - Neolithic revolution

KW - hunter-gatherers

KW - child labor

KW - Thomas Malthus

M3 - Working paper

BT - The Neolithic Revolution from a Price-Theoretic Perspective

ER -