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on Evolutionary Economics |
| By: | Ohler, Johann |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the individual-level assumptions of the Malthusian model in pre-industrial Germany. By exploiting demographic records for 150, 000 individuals from the historical county of Wittgenstein, I test for status gradients in child mortality (the Malthusian positive check) and marital fertility (preventive check). While I find no evidence for a status gradient in child mortality, I find strong evidence for a status gradient in fertility. The richest families had, on average, one extra child when compared to their poorer compatriots. Turning to the mechanics of the preventive check, this appears to have been driven mostly by an earlier age of marriage amongst high status families. Disaggregating my dataset into six periods reveals that this fertility differential began to disintegrate around 1800. Ergo, I conclude that prior to 1800, the German population was subject to some Malthusian forces, albeit it was not stuck in a rigid Malthusian equilibrium, as conceptualised by some neo Malthusian scholars. |
| Keywords: | German Economic History; Malthus; Demographic History; European Marriage Pattern; Unified Growth Theory |
| JEL: | J12 J13 N33 N93 O40 |
| Date: | 2024–01–17 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:120451&r=evo |
| By: | Lee, Neil |
| Abstract: | Two of the canonical approaches in regional studies are global production networks (GPNs) and evolutionary economic geography (EEG). Recent geopolitical and economic events have shown the importance of both theories in explaining regional economic change. Yet they remain discrete and separate, and there is now consensus that, together, they could explain more. A vibrant debate on the relationship between these two approaches is needed, starting with identifying unifying themes and areas of analytical difference, to develop a research agenda for future work which can better explain regional change. |
| Keywords: | complexity; evolutionary economic geography; global production networks; global value chains; relatedness; T&F deal |
| JEL: | D00 F23 |
| Date: | 2024–03–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:121961&r=evo |
| By: | Guillaume Blanc |
| Abstract: | This research shows that secularization accounts for the remarkably early fertility decline in France. The demographic transition, a turning point in history and an essential condition for development, began in France more than a century earlier than in any other country. Why it happened so early is one of the ‘big questions of history’ because it challenges traditional explanations and because of data limitations. Using a novel dataset crowdsourced from publicly available genealogies, I comprehensively document the decline in fertility and its timing with a representative sample of the population. Drawing on a wide range of sources and data, I document an important process of secularization in the eighteenth century and find a strong and robust association with the timing of the transition across regions and individuals. Finally, I discuss the persistent impact of the transition on economic growth and explore the drivers of secularization. |
| Keywords: | fertility, development, secularization |
| JEL: | N33 O10 Z12 |
| Date: | 2024–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:allwps:0003&r=evo |
| By: | Eric Schniter (Center for the Study of Human Nature; Division of Anthropology, California State University Fullerton and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Daniel K. Cummings (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Paul L. Hooper (Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico and Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Maguin Gutierrez Cayuba (Gran Consejo Tsimane); Jonathan Stieglitz (Toulouse School of Economics and Institute for Advanced Study, University of Toulouse); Benjamin C. Trumble (University of Manchester); Hillard S. Kaplan (Economic Science Institute, Chapman University); Michael D. Gurven (Integrative Anthropological Sciences Unit, University of California-Santa Barbara) |
| Abstract: | We consider several forms of helping behavior among Tsimane Amerindians of Bolivia, including provision of shelter, childcare, food, sickcare, loans, advice, and cultural influence. While kin selection theory is traditionally invoked to explain nepotistic nurturing of youngsters by closely related kin, much less attention has been given to understanding the help provided to children and adults by individuals without close genetic relatedness. To explain who provides the various forms of help that we consider, we evaluate support for several predictions derived from kin selection theory: that helpers are most often closely related and from an older generation, provide more help when help is costly, favor beneficiaries with high reproductive value, and tend to be maternal kin more than paternal kin. We also evaluate support for a relationship effort explanation for help among genetically unrelated adults. We define relationship effort as the beneficent investments made in trust-based relationships, such as among unrelated friends, mates, in-laws, and exchange partners. Our results support kin selection and relationship effort explanations for who helps Tsimane children and adults. |
| Keywords: | Help, Nepotism, Alloparenting, Relationship effort, Kin selection |
| JEL: | B52 D61 D64 D83 Y8 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:chu:wpaper:24-06&r=evo |
| By: | Gregory Clark (University of Southern Denmark, LSE); Neil Cummins (LSE) |
| Abstract: | Children early in the birth order get more parental care than later children. Does this significantly affect their life chances? An extensive genealogy of 428, 280 English people 1680-2024, with substantial sets of complete families, suggests that birth order had little effect on social outcomes either for contemporary outcomes, or in earlier centuries. For a small group of elite families in the nineteenth century and earlier, the oldest son was advantaged in terms of wealth, education, and occupational status. But even in this elite group, among later sons, birth order had no effect. We consider in the paper how the absence of birth order effects in England can be reconciled with reports of substantial negative birth order effects for modern Nordic countries. |
| Keywords: | Human Capital Formation, Birth Order, Intergenerational Mobility |
| JEL: | J24 J62 N33 N34 |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0254&r=evo |