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The Emergence of Agriculture: Trickle-Down Growth and Climate Change

Author

Listed:
  • Shinji Teraji

    (Yamaguchi University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes a model of the transition to agriculture by allowing heterogeneous agents to make the decision on whether to engage in farming or foraging. The threshold level, which divides foragers from farmers, depends on both agricultural productivity and foraging efficiency. As agricultural productivity improves, farming becomes possible to low-skilled agents, which leads to further improvement in agricultural productivity. Due to this trickle-down mechanism, the allocation of labor to agriculture magnifies the persistence of growth dynamics. The model also explains that a temporary climate deterioration can initiate the transition to agriculture by lowering foraging efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Shinji Teraji, 2012. "The Emergence of Agriculture: Trickle-Down Growth and Climate Change," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 32(1), pages 913-922.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-12-00175
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Vernon L, 1975. "The Primitive Hunter Culture, Pleistocene Extinction, and the Rise of Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 83(4), pages 727-755, August.
    2. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-92-3 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1991. "The Allocation of Talent: Implications for Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(2), pages 503-530.
    4. Krugman, Paul, 1987. "The narrow moving band, the Dutch disease, and the competitive consequences of Mrs. Thatcher : Notes on trade in the presence of dynamic scale economies," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1-2), pages 41-55, October.
    5. Jacob L. Weisdorf, 2005. "From Foraging To Farming: Explaining The Neolithic Revolution," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 561-586, September.
    6. Matthew Baker, 2008. "A structural model of the transition to agriculture," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 257-292, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Origin of agriculture; Agricultural productivity; Foraging; Trickle-down growth; Climate change;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity

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