A measure of technological level for the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample

Ellis Eff () and Abhradeep Maiti

No 201302, Working Papers from Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Economics and Finance

Abstract: Technology differs from other features of culture in that the Boasian stance of cultural relativism seems less binding: one can argue that the technology of one society is superior or inferior to the technology of another. This comparison is possible because technological change—as described by S.C. Gilfillan, Clarence Ayres, and Jane Jacobs—operates through the process of combining existing elements of technology to create new elements. Technology is therefore cumulative, so that a more advanced technology contains more elements than a less advanced. We exploit this cumulative nature of technology to create a measure of technological level for the 186 ethnographically known societies in the Standard Cross-Cultural Sample.

Keywords: technology; Standard Cross-Cultural Sample (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: B52 O30 P52 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-spo
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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