Malthus in cointegration space: evidence of a post-Malthusian pre-industrial England

A-Tier
Journal: Journal of Economic Growth
Year: 2014
Volume: 19
Issue: 1
Pages: 105-140

Score contribution per author:

2.011 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper re-examines the interaction between population growth and income per capita in pre-industrial England. Our results suggest that, as early as two centuries preceding the Industrial Revolution, England had already escaped the Malthusian Epoch and entered a post-Malthusian regime, where income per capita continued to spur population growth but was no longer stagnant. Our formulation of a post-Malthusian hypothesis implies cointegration between vital rates (birth- and death rates) and income and builds explicitly on a simple model of Malthusian stagnation. We show that this hypothesis can be interpreted as an extension of the latter model where the negative Malthusian feedback effect from population on income, as implied by diminishing returns to labor, is offset by a positive Boserupian and/or Smithian scale effect of population on technology. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:kap:jecgro:v:19:y:2014:i:1:p:105-140
Journal Field
Growth
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-26