Journal of Economic Literature
ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)
Can Marshall plus Malthus Explain the Evolution of Ancient Societies? A Review of Economic Prehistory by Dow and Reed
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 62,
no. 3, September 2024
(pp. 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.Citation
Bowles, Samuel, and Amy Bogaard. 2024. "Can Marshall plus Malthus Explain the Evolution of Ancient Societies? A Review of Economic Prehistory by Dow and Reed." Journal of Economic Literature 62 (3): 1213–29. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20221713Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- C73 Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games; Repeated Games
- N10 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: General, International, or Comparative
- N40 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: General, International, or Comparative
- N50 Economic History: Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries: General, International, or Comparative
- Q10 Agriculture: General
- Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming