Economic Analysis of Ancient Greek Inscriptions and Literary Texts

Laurent Gauthier ()
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Laurent Gauthier: CAC-IXXI, Complex Systems Institute, ESPRI - Espace, Pratiques sociales et Images dans les mondes Grec et Romain - ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - UP8 - Université Paris 8 - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre - MCC - Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Abstract: While the economic modeling of history has largely relied on stylized facts, we argue that, relying on complexity sciences, one can directly exploit the primary sources made available in digitized form, in particular for ancient Greece. We frame these textual corpora within an economic perspective, and interpret linguistic and social behaviors as outcomes of cost-minimization strategies, coordination games, and network effects. We analyze how material constraints, social incentives, and optimization principles shape textual production and naming conventions. The economic framework in which we embed our interpretation of the data furthers our understanding of ancient Greek society, and applying modern economic concepts to this ancient society also extends our understanding of core economic principles.

Keywords: Ancient Greece; rational action; complexity; power laws; networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Published in Review of Economics, inPress

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05474866

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