会议专题

Population, Labor, and Economic Growth in the Roman and Chinese Empire

  Both the ancient Roman and Chinese Empires experienced significant population growth.Classic Malthusian theory perceives population as a dependent and endogenous variable, viewing improvements in land use and discoveries of higher-yield-crops as a precondition for further demographic expansion.Hence, some authors have denied the possibility that the Roman world achieved significant increase in both population levels and per capita production.Walter Scheidel (The Cambridge Economic History of Greco-Roman world, 2007) uses a Malthusian model to argue that, while the Roman economy expanded and population grew, living standards were and remained at a low level.In his view, the Roman world was caught in a ”low equilibrium trap”, meaning that population growth tended to follow closely upon economic growth.Hence, per capita production, and thus average living standards, remained low.Regarding traditional China, population growth has been perceived as an exogenous variable to which society responded by adjusting not only production technologies, but also economic institutions, allowing improvements in economic performance.In order to deepen our understanding of the relationship between demographic growth, land use and economic growth, a comparison will be made between developments in the Roman and Chinese Empire.If the classic Malthusian model, which rules out a rise in living standards without significant technological change, is denied, how can we explain structural economic growth (rather than mere expansion) and the concomitant rise in average living standards? A crucial part of the answer lies in the role of the household as the main unit of labor and consumption.To what extent was additional labor absorbed into households as production and consumption units? Kang Chao (Man and Land in Chinese History, 1986) argued that ”tho Chinese family system tolerated overpopulation”.Hence, a comparison between the impact of population growth on the use of labor will enlighten our understanding of economic performance in both ancient Roman and Chinese society.

Paul ERDKAMP

Flemish University of Brussels

国内会议

2012年中国世界古代史国际学术讨论会

天津

英文

48-60

2012-06-16(万方平台首次上网日期,不代表论文的发表时间)