Towards an explanation of inequality in premodern societies
The Role of Colonies, Urbanization, and High Population Density
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3514439 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Branko Milanovic (0000-0002-7906-5696, Graduate Center City University of New York and Stone Center for Socio‐economic Inequality, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 71 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1029-1047 |
| Publication date | 2018-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ehr.12613 |
| OpenAlex | W2777432441 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 21 |
| References cited | 24 |
Using a newly expanded set of 41 social tables from premodern societies, this article tries to identify the factors associated with the level of inequality and the inequality extraction ratio (how close to the maximum inequality the elites have pushed actual inequality). Strong evidence is found to show that elites in colonies were more extractive, and that more densely populated and less urbanized countries exhibited lower extraction ratios. Several possibilities are proposed, linking high population density to low inequality and to low elite extraction
Demographic economics · Development economics · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Elite · Geography · Inequality · Political science · Population · Social inequality · Sociology · Urbanization · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Demography · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Law · Mathematics
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| Citations per year | 3.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Highly cited | No |