Can Marshall plus Malthus Explain the Evolution of Ancient Societies? A Review of Economic Prehistory by Dow and Reed

Samuel Bowles and Amy Bogaard

Journal of Economic Literature, 2024, vol. 62, issue 3, 1213-29

Abstract: In a work of extraordinary scope and scholarship, Gregory K. Dow and Clyde G. Reed deploy conventional microeconomic theory to explain "six transitions that shaped the world," namely, the transitions to sedentism, farming, inequality, war, cities, and states. The models they offer provide a level of clarity about potential causal mechanisms that is unusual in the archaeological literature. But we are not convinced by some of their key empirical claims in light of current archaeological evidence, and we think that contemporary economics—including evolutionary game theory—has more appropriate models to offer than the Marshallian approach taken by the authors.

JEL-codes: C73 N10 N40 N50 Q10 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/jel.20221713 (application/pdf)
https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/jel.20221713.ds (application/zip)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:jeclit:v:62:y:2024:i:3:p:1213-29

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

DOI: 10.1257/jel.20221713

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Economic Literature is currently edited by Steven Durlauf

More articles in Journal of Economic Literature from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().