On the Collapse of Historical Civilizations
To explain the collapse of historical civilizations, scholars typically point to suboptimal behaviors including misunderstanding the natural environment, shortsightedness, or a lack of institutions. We examine the collapse of four historical societies with a model of endogenous population growth and renewable resources employing components of optimal resource management, economic growth theory, and the moral philosophy of social welfare function choice. We find that these collapses may have been socially optimal. Further, we show that the transient behavior of the system is more sensitive to assumptions than the equilibrium behavior and that focusing solely on equilibria may miss key insights. Copyright Copyright 2009 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
Year of publication: |
2009
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Authors: | Good, David H. ; Reuveny, Rafael |
Published in: |
American Journal of Agricultural Economics. - American Agricultural Economics Association. - Vol. 91.2009, 4, p. 863-879
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Publisher: |
American Agricultural Economics Association |
Saved in:
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