Organization and Distributional Equality in a Network of Communes
The Shakers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2776831 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Metin M Cosgel (0000-0002-1249-1535), Thomas J Miceli (0000-0002-6289-9280), John E Murray (University of Toledo, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 129-144 |
| Publication date | 1997-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Journal of Economics and Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0002-9246 • E-ISSN: 1536-7150 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1997.tb03456.x |
| OpenAlex | W1995319851 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 20 |
A distinctive feature of the Shaker organization of communes was to divide each commune into economically independent subdivisions called "Families." Although the sharing of wealth and egalitarian distribution of output were integral aspects of Shaker religious practice, the organization of their communes based on the Family system led to inequalities among Families. The data from the 1850, 1860, and 1870 US Census enumeration schedules show that income and wealth per capita differed substantially across Shaker communities and even among Families within the same community. One large commune for all Shakers could have avoided distributional inequalities, but the costs of motivation and coordination would have risen with group size. The Family system was a compromise that balanced communal ideals with these costs
Census · Compromise · Demographic economics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economics · Geography · Inequality · Per capita · Shaker · Social science · Sociology · Welfare economics · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Demography · Mathematics · Mormonism, Religion, and History · Race, History, and American Society
Men and wealth in the United States, 1850-1870
The Theory of Externalities, Public Goods, and Club Goods
The Division of Labor, Coordination Costs, and Knowledge
The Economic theory of agrarian institutions
Heavens on Earth; Utopian Communities in America, 1680-1880
God's Blueprints
A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures
Shaker Communities, Shaker Lives
The American Shakers
Inequality among the Kibbutzim
Shaker Demographics 1840-1900
Organizational Efficiency and Egalitarian Democracy in an Intentional Communal Society
Henry George and the Shakers
Organization and Distributional Equality in a Network of Communes
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,14 |
| Citation span | 1997 - 2007 (11) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |