The Neolithic Revolution from a price-theoretic perspective

Jacob Weisdorf Ricardo Andrés Guzmán; Jacob Louis Weisdorf

doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.08.007

The Neolithic Revolution from a price-theoretic perspective

Jacob Weisdorf Ricardo Andrés Guzmán, Jacob Louis Weisdorf

Department of Economics

6 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The adoption of agriculture during the Neolithic period triggered the first demographic explosion in history. When fertility returned to its original level, agriculturalists were more numerous, more poorly nourished, and worked longer hours than their hunter–gatherer ancestors. We develop a dynamic price-theoretic model that rationalizes these events. In the short run, people are lured into agriculture by the increased labor productivity of both adults and children. In the long run, the growth in population overrides the productivity gains, and the later generations of agriculturalists end up being worse-off than the hunter–gatherers. Counter-intuitively, the increase in the labor productivity of children causes the long-run reduction in welfare. In the long run, the increase in adult labor productivity only contributes to population growth.

Original language	English
Journal	Journal of Development Economics
Volume	96
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	209-219
Number of pages	11
ISSN	0304-3878
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.08.007
Publication status	Published - Nov 2011

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Cite this

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title = "The Neolithic Revolution from a price-theoretic perspective",

abstract = "The adoption of agriculture during the Neolithic period triggered the first demographic explosion in history. When fertility returned to its original level, agriculturalists were more numerous, more poorly nourished, and worked longer hours than their hunter–gatherer ancestors. We develop a dynamic price-theoretic model that rationalizes these events. In the short run, people are lured into agriculture by the increased labor productivity of both adults and children. In the long run, the growth in population overrides the productivity gains, and the later generations of agriculturalists end up being worse-off than the hunter–gatherers. Counter-intuitively, the increase in the labor productivity of children causes the long-run reduction in welfare. In the long run, the increase in adult labor productivity only contributes to population growth.",

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