We draw on Ricardian comparative advantage between distinct persons to map out the division of labor among proto-humans in a village some 1.7 million years ago. A person specialized in maintaining a cooking fire in the village is of particular interest (Ofek [2001]). We are also interested in modelling hunting by village males in teams. The large issue is whether and how specialization (division of labor) and interpersonal trade might have driven brain-expansion in early humans.
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Paper provided by Queen's University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number
1161.
Find related papers by JEL classification: A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics D51 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Exchange and Production Economies J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
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