Modeling Malthusian Dynamics in Pre-Industrial Societies

TitleModeling Malthusian Dynamics in Pre-Industrial Societies
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2013
AuthorsNefedov SA
JournalCliodynamics
Volume4
Issue2
Start Page229
Pagination229-240
Keywordsagrarian societies, Malthusian dynamics, mathematical models
Abstract

The discussion about the Malthusian character of pre-industrial economies that has arisen in the recent years extensively uses simple mathematical models. This article analyzes some of these models to determine their conformity with Malthusian postulates. The author suggests two models that are more adequate for the description of Malthusian patterns.

URLhttps://escholarship.org/uc/item/71g00580
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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Malthusian Population Growth and Crisis in Pre-Industrial Agrarian Societies

Model
Most models of Malthusian population dynamics specify logistic growth to a carrying capacity, but the historical record of agrarian societies strongly suggests that repeated cycles of overshoot and collapse (so-called "Malthusian crises") are endogenous to population dynamics (see Nefedov, 2013 for details and citations). In this model, Nefedov (2013) explicitly models harvest surplus production as the carrying capacity of an agricultural population. When population pressure drives the...
01 Oct 2016