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Stagnation and innovation before agriculture

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  • Dow, Gregory K.
  • Reed, Clyde G.

Abstract

During the roughly 190,000 years between the emergence of anatomically modern humans and the transition to agriculture, sustained economic progress was rare. Although there were important innovations in the Upper Paleolithic, evidence from paleodemography indicates that population densities were driven more by climatic conditions than by technological innovations in food acquisition. We develop a model in which technological knowledge is subject to mutation and selection across generations. In a static environment, long run stagnation is the norm. However, climate shocks can induce experimentation with latent resources. This generates punctuated equilibria with greater technical capabilities and higher population densities at successive plateaus. The model is consistent with archaeological data on climate, population, diet, and technology from the Upper Paleolithic through the early Neolithic.

Suggested Citation

  • Dow, Gregory K. & Reed, Clyde G., 2011. "Stagnation and innovation before agriculture," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 339-350, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:77:y:2011:i:3:p:339-350
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    Cited by:

    1. Gregory K. Dow & Clyde G. Reed, 2013. "The Origins of Inequality: Insiders, Outsiders, Elites, and Commoners," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(3), pages 609-641.
    2. Riahi, Ideen, 2020. "How hominin dispersals and megafaunal extinctions influenced the birth of agriculture," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 227-250.
    3. Ideen A. Riahi, 2022. "Why Eurasia? A probe into the origins of global inequalities," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(1), pages 105-147, January.
    4. Gregory K. Dow & Clyde G. Reed & Simon Woodcock, 2016. "The Economics Of Exogamous Marriage In Small-Scale Societies," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1805-1823, October.
    5. Dow, Gregory K. & Reed, Clyde G., 2015. "The origins of sedentism: Climate, population, and technology," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 56-71.
    6. Javier Mej√≠a, 2018. "The Network Formation Origin of Tribal Societies," Documentos CEDE 16381, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.

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