Food, Fuel and the Domesday Economy

Juan Moreno-Cruz and M. Scott Taylor

No 27414, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper develops a theory where access to food and fuel energy is critical to the location, number, and size of human settlements. By combining our theory with a simple Malthusian mechanism, we generate predictions for the distribution of economic activity and population across geographic space. We evaluate the model using data drawn from the very first census undertaken in the English language - the Domesday census - commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086 A.D. Using G.I.S. data and techniques we find strong evidence that Malthusian forces determined the population size and the number of settlements in Domesday England.

JEL-codes: Q4 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-geo and nep-gro
Note: DEV EEE
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Published as Juan Moreno-Cruz & M. Scott Taylor, 2020. "Food, Fuel and the Domesday Economy," European Economic Review, vol 128.

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