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Abstract:
This research develops an evolutionary growth theory that captures the interplay between the evolution of mankind and economic growth since the emergence of the human species. The theory suggests that the struggle for survival that had characterized most of human existence stimulated a process of natural selection and generated an evolutionary advantage to human traits that were complementary to the growth process, triggering the take-off from an epoch of stagnation to sustained economic growth.

Growth, Technological Progress, Fertility, Human Capital, Evolution, Natural Selection, Malthusian Stagnation

Abstract:
This research develops an evolutionary growth theory that captures the interplay between the evolution of mankind and economic growth since the emergence of the human species. This unified theory encompasses the observed evolution of population, technology and income per capita in the long transition from an epoch of Malthusian stagnation to sustained economic growth. The theory suggests that prolonged economic stagnation prior to the transition to sustained growth stimulated natural selection that shaped the evolution of the human species, whereas the evolution of the human species was the origin of the take-off from an epoch of stagnation to sustained growth.

Evolution, fertility, growth, human capital, Malthusian stagnation, natural selection, technological progress

Abstract:
This research develops an evolutionary growth theory that captures the interplay between the evolution of mankind and economic growth since the emergence of the human species. This unified theory encompasses the observed evolution of population, technology and income per capita in the long transition from an epoch of Malthusian stagnation to sustained economic growth. The theory suggests that prolonged economic stagnation prior to the transition to sustained growth stimulated natural selection that shaped the evolution of the human species, whereas the evolution of the human species was the origin of the take-off from an epoch of stagnation to sustained growth.

Growth, Technological Progress, Fertility, Human Capital, Evolution, Natural Selection, Malthusian Stagnation

Abstract:
This paper develops a unified theory for the dynamic implications of income inequality on the process of development. The proposed theory argues that the replacement of physical capital accumulation by human capital accumulation as a prime engine of economic growth has changed the qualitative impact of inequality on the process of development. In early stages of industrialization as physical capital accumulation is a prime source of economic growth, inequality enhances the process of development by channeling resources towards individuals whose marginal propensity to save is higher. In later stages of development, however, as the return to human capital increases due to capital-skill complementarity, human capital becomes the prime engine of growth and equality, in the presence of credit constraints, stimulates investment in human capital and promotes economic growth. As wages increase, however, credit constraints become less binding, differences in the marginal propensity to save decline and the aggregate effect of income distribution on the growth process becomes therefore less significant.

Income Distributions, Growth, Credit Constraints, Human Capital

Abstract:
This paper hypothesizes that the demise of the 19th century's European class structure reflects a deliberate transformation of society orchestrated by the capitalists. Contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that the demise of this class structure was an outcome of a cooperative, rather than divisive process. The research suggests that the transition from this class structure may be viewed as the outcome of an optimal reaction by the capitalists to the increasing importance of human capital in sustaining their profit rates. The paper argues that the process of capital accumulation gradually intensified the importance of skilled labor in the production process and generated an incentive for investment in human capital. Due to the complementarity between physical and human capital in production, the capitalists were among the prime beneficiaries of the accumulation of human capital by the masses. They therefore had the incentive to support public education that would sustain their profit rates and would improve their economic well-being, although it would ultimately undermine their dynasty's position in the social ladder. The research suggests that Karl Marx's highly influential prediction about the inevitable class struggle due to declining profit rates stemmed from an under appreciation of the role that human capital would play in the production process. The basic premise of this research, regarding the positive attitude of capitalists towards education reforms, is supported empirically by a newly constructed data set of the voting patterns on England's education reform proposed in the Balfour Act of 1902.

Industrial Revolution, Human Capital, Growth, Class Structure, Education Reforms

Abstract:
This research advances an evolutionary growth theory that captures the pattern of life expectancy in the process of development, shedding new light on the sources of the remarkable rise in life expectancy since the Agricultural Revolution. The theory suggests that social, economic and environmental changes that were associated with the transition from hunter-gatherer tribes to sedentary agricultural communities and ultimately to urban societies affected the nature of the environmental hazards confronted by the human population, triggering an evolutionary process that had a significant impact on the time path of human longevity.

Life expectancy, growth, technological progress, evolution, natural selection, Malthusian stagnation

Abstract:
This research advances an evolutionary growth theory that captures the pattern of life expectancy in the process of development, shedding new light on the sources of the remarkable rise in life expectancy since the Agricultural Revolution. The theory suggests that social, economic and environmental changes that were associated with the transition from hunter-gatherer tribes to sedentary agricultural communities and ultimately to urban societies affected the nature of the environmental hazards confronted by the human population, triggering an evolutionary process that had a significant impact on the time path of human longevity.

Life Expectancy, growth, technological progress, evolution, Natural Selection, Malthusian Stagnation

Abstract:
We examine why developed countries are monogamous while rich men throughout history have typically practiced polygyny. Wealth inequality naturally produces multiple wives for rich men in a standard model of the marriage market. However, we demonstrate that higher female inequality in the marriage market reduces polygyny. Moreover, we show that female inequality increases in the process of development as women are valued more for the quality of their children versus their quantity. Consequently, male inequality generates inequality in the number of wives per man in traditional societies, but manifests itself as inequality in the quality of wives in developed societies.

Abstract:
This Paper examines why developed countries are monogamous while rich men throughout history have tended to practice polygyny (multiple wives). Wealth inequality naturally produces multiple wives for rich men in a standard model of the marriage market where polygyny is not ruled out. Our model demonstrates, however, that while higher male inequality generates more polygyny, higher female inequality produces a more monogamous equilibrium. Moreover, we derive how female inequality in the marriage market is higher in equilibrium as women are valued more for their quality versus quantity of children when human capital becomes more important in determining the distribution of income. As a result, male inequality in traditional societies generates inequality in the number of wives per man, but male inequality in developed societies, where human capital is a larger source of income and inequality, manifests itself as inequality in the quality of their wives. Using data from Cote d'Ivoire, we provide supporting evidence for the main implications of the model.

Marriage, monogamy, polygyny, human capital, inequality

Abstract:
This paper examines why developed countries are monogamous while rich men throughout history have tended to practice polygyny (multiple wives). Wealth inequality naturally produces multiple wives for rich men in a standard model of the marriage market where polygyny is not ruled out. However, our model demonstrates that while higher male inequality generates more polygyny, higher female inequality produces a more monogamous equilibrium. Moreover, we derive how female inequality in the marriage market is higher in equilibrium as women are valued more for their quality versus quantity of children when human capital becomes more important in determining the distribution of income. As a result, male inequality in traditional societies generates inequality in the number of wives per man, but male inequality in developed societies, where human capital is a larger source of income and inequality, manifests itself as inequality in the quality of their wives. Using data from Cote d'Ivoire, we provide supporting evidence for the main implications of the model.

Marriage, Monogamy, Polygyny, Human Capital, Inequality

Abstract:
This research suggests that the distribution of land within and across countries affected the nature of the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy, generating diverging growth patterns across countries. Land abundance, which was beneficial in early stages of development, generated in later stages a hurdle for human capital accumulation and economic growth among countries in which land ownership was unequally distributed. The qualitative change in the role of land in the process of industrialization affected the transition to modern growth and has brought about changes in the ranking of countries in the world income distribution. Some land abundant countries that were associated with the club of the rich economies in the pre-industrial revolution era and were marked by an unequal distribution of land, were overtaken in the process of industrialization by land scarce countries and were dominated by other land abundant economies in which land distribution was rather equal. The theory focuses on the economic incentives that led landowners to resist growth enhancing educational expenditure. The basic premise of this research, regarding the negative effect of land inequality on public expenditure on education is supported empirically based on cross-state data from the High School Movement in the first half of the 20th century in the US.

Land inequality, development, human capital accumulation, growth

Abstract:
This research develops a unified growth theory that captures the transition from the domination of geographical factors in the determination of productivity in early stages of development to the domination of institutional factors in mature stages of development. It identifies a novel channel through which favorable geographical conditions that were inherently associated with inequality adversely affected the emergence of institutions that promote human capital accumulation. The research suggests that the distribution of land ownership within and across countries affected the nature of the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy generating diverging growth patterns across countries. Furthermore, the qualitative change in the role of land in the process of industrialization brought about changes in the ranking of countries in the world income distribution. The basic premise of this research, regarding the negative effect of land inequality on public expenditure on education is established empirically based on cross-state data from the High School Movement in the first half of the 20th century in the US.

Land Inequality, Institutions, Geography, Human capital accumulation, Growth

Abstract:
This research develops a unified growth theory that captures the transition from the domination of geographical factors in the determination of productivity in early stages of development to the domination of institutional factors in mature stages of development. It identifies a novel channel through which favorable geographical conditions that were inherently associated with inequality adversely affected the emergence of institutions that promote human capital accumulation. The research suggests that the distribution of land ownership within and across countries affected the nature of the transition from an agrarian to an industrial economy generating diverging growth patterns across countries. Furthermore, the qualitative change in the role of land in the process of industrialization brought about changes in the ranking of countries in the world income distribution. The basic premise of this research, regarding the negative effect of land inequality on public expenditure on education is established empirically based on cross-state data from the High School Movement in the first half of the 20th century in the US.

Land Inequality, Institutions, Geography, Human capital accumulation, Growth

Abstract:
This paper suggests that inequality in the distribution of land ownership adversely affected the emergence of human capital promoting institutions (e.g., public schooling) and thus the pace and the nature of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, contributing to the emergence of the great divergence in income per capita across countries. The prediction of the theory regarding the adverse effect of the concentration of land ownership on education expenditure is established empirically based on evidence from the beginning of the 20th century in the US.

Geography, Great Divergence, Growth, Human capital, Institutions, Land Inequality

Abstract:
This research suggests that favorable geographical conditions, that were inherently associated with inequality in the distribution of land ownership, adversely affected the implementation of human capital promoting institutions (e.g., public schooling and child labor regulations), and thus the pace and the nature of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, contributing to the emergence of the Great Divergence in income per capita across countries. The basic premise of this research, regarding the negative effect of land inequality on public expenditure on education is established empirically based on cross-state data from the beginning of the 20th century in the United States.

Land inequality, institutions, geography, human capital accumulation, growth

Abstract:
This paper develops a theory of fertility that offers an explanation for the persistence of poverty within and across countries. If educated individuals have a comparative advantage in raising educated children then parental fertility choice is shown to give rise to a poverty trap, in which the poor choose high fertility rates with low investment in child quality. Moreover, the impact of child quality choice on economic performance is amplified by the diluting effect of higher fertility on physical capital accumulation. The theory proposes insights regarding the effects of inequality, globalisation and life expectancy on economic growth and demographic transitions.

Abstract:
This Paper develops a theory of fertility and child educational choice that offers an explanation for the persistence of poverty within and across countries. The joint determination of the quality (education) and quantity of children in the household is studied under the key assumption that individuals' productivity as teachers increases with their own human capital. As a result, the poor choose high fertility rates with low education investment and therefore, their offspring are poor as well. Furthermore, the high fertility rates in poor economies dilute physical capital accumulation and amplify the effect of child quality choice on economic growth. The model generates multiple steady states even though the technologies employed in the production of human capital and output are convex and preferences are convex and homothetic.

Fertility, human capital, growth

Abstract:
This paper develops a theory of fertility that offers an explanation for the persistence of poverty within and across countries. If educated individuals have a comparative advantage in raising educated children then parental fertility choice is shown to give rise to a poverty trap, in which the poor choose high fertility rates with low investment in child quality. Moreover, the impact of child quality choice on economic performance is amplified by the diluting effect of higher fertility on physical capital accumulation. The theory proposes insights regarding the effects of inequality, globalization, and life expectancy on economic growth and demographic transitions.

Fertility, Human Capital, Growth

Abstract:
I show that non-convexities in technology, assumed in the capital market imperfection literature on the relationship between income distribution and economic growth, can be replaced by an assumption that the bequest function is convex with respect to income.

Growth, Wealth Distribution, Human Capital

Abstract:
Poor families around the world spend a large fraction of their income on consumption of goods that appear to be useless in alleviating poverty, while saving at very low rates and neglecting investment in health and education. Such consumption patterns seem to be related to the persistence of poverty. We offer an explanation for this observation, based on a trade-off between conspicuous consumption and human capital as signals for unobserved income, under the assumption that individuals care about their status. Despite homothetic preferences, this trade-off gives rise to a convex saving function, which can help explain the persistence of poverty.

Conspicuous Consumption, Human Capital, Poverty

Abstract:
Poor families around the world spend a large fraction of their income on consumption of goods that appear to be useless in alleviating poverty, while saving at very low rates and neglecting investment in health and education. Such consumption patterns seem to be related to the persistence of poverty. We offer an explanation for this observation, based on a trade-off between conspicuous consumption and human capital as signals for unobserved income, under the assumption that individuals care about their status. Despite homothetic preferences, this trade-off gives rise to a convex saving function, which can help explain the persistence of poverty.

Conspicuous Consumption, Human Capital, Poverty

Abstract:
This paper presents a model that generates a non-monotonic evolution of the return to education. The model highlights the role played by socioeconomic stratification in the joint determination of the supply of educated labor and the supply of physical capital. The recent theoretical literature attributes the increased education premium of the last decades to skill-biased technological progress. In contrast, our explanation is based on capital-skill complementarity and endogenous accumulation of physical and human capital in an environment characterized by credit constraints.

Inequality, Growth, Human Capital, Capital-Skill Complementarity, Stratification

Abstract:
This paper presents a model that generates a non-monotonic evolution of the return to education. The model highlights the role played by socioeconomic stratification in the joint determination of the supply of educated labor and the supply of physical capital. The recent theoretical literature attributes the increased education premium of the last decades to skill-biased technological progress. In contrast, our explanation is based on capital-skill complementarity and endogenous accumulation of physical and human capital in an environment characterized by credit constraints.

Abstract:
This research advances an evolutionary theory and provides empirical evidence that shed new light on the origins of contemporary differences in life expectancy across countries. The theory suggests that social, economic and environmental changes that were associated with the Neolithic Revolution affected the nature of the environmental hazards confronted by the human population, triggering an evolutionary process that had a significant impact on human longevity. The empirical analysis shows that a significant portion of contemporary variations in life expectancy across countries can be traced to the differences in the time passed since the ancestors of the population of each country experienced the Neolithic Revolution.

Life Expectancy, Growth, Technological Progress, Evolution, Natural Selection, Malthusian Stagnation

Abstract:
This paper offers an explanation for the evolution of wage inequality within and between industries and education groups over the past several decades. The model is based on the disproportionate depreciation of technology-specific skills versus general skills due to technological progress, which occurs randomly across sectors. Consistent with empirical evidence, the model predicts that increasing randomness is the primary source of inequality growth within uneducated workers, whereas inequality growth within educated workers is determined more by changes in the composition and return to ability. Increasing randomness generates a "precautionary" demand for education, which we show empirically to be significant.

Abstract:
Individuals choose to invest in general skills through education or technology-specific skills by working on the job. Technological progress, which occurs randomly across sectors, depreciates technology-specific skills - thus increasing the return to education and generating a precautionary element in the demand for education. Consistent with existing empirical evidence, the model predicts that the sources of inequality growth are different within educated and uneducated workers: increasing randomness is a primary source within uneducated workers, while inequality growth within educated workers is determined more by changes in the composition and return to ability. The model generates an endogenous evolution of inequality "within" and "between" groups that is consistent with the patterns and sources of inequality growth over the last few decades. The model also generates patterns of inequality and skill composition within industrial sectors - most notably, the well-known positive correlation between the rate of technological change and skill-upgrading within an industry. In addition, we empirically verify the "precautionary demand for education" by showing that individuals consider the income risk associated with being an uneducated worker when making their schooling decisions.

Abstract:
We study the relationship between the precision of information about the performance of an agent in a market, and the incentives this agent has for exerting effort to produce high quality. We show that this relationship is not monotonic. There exists a threshold beyond which any further improvement in the precision of information weakens the agent's incentive to produce high quality. Accordingly, both very precise and very imprecise information about the agent's performance may destroy its incentive to exert effort. A few applications of this result are discussed.

Reputation, incentives, precision of information, experience good, credence good

Abstract:
This paper examines the rate of emigration from Israel - known as "yerida" - in the years 1995 to 2004. Specifically, we examine how the rate of yerida varies according to education levels, employment status, income, marital status, and the number of years living in Israel. The analysis uses data from the 1995 Israeli census, combined with an indicator for yerida status as of 2004. The data show that the probability of emigrating from Israel is 2.5 times higher for educated individuals (individuals with a bachelor's degree or higher) than those with less education. A similar pattern exists for new immigrants to Israel, although the magnitudes are much larger and the relationship between education and the probability of leaving Israel is much more pronounced.

Abstract:
This paper offers micro-foundations for the dynamic relationship between technology and population in the pre-industrial world, accounting for both technological progress and the hitherto neglected but common phenomenon of technological regress. A growing population engenders the endogenous adoption of new techniques that increase the division of labour. Conversely, technological progress supports an increasing population in the Malthusian environment. A transient shock to population or productivity, however, induces the neglect of some techniques rendered temporarily unprofitable, which are therefore not transmitted to the next generation. When the shock passes, the division of labour remains constrained by the smaller stock of knowledge, and technology has thereby regressed. A slow process of rediscovery is required for the economy to reach its previous level of technological sophistication and population size.

Technological regress, technological progress, Malthusian stagnation, division of labour

Abstract:
This paper offers micro-foundations for the dynamic relationship between technology and population in the pre-industrial world, accounting for both technological progress and the hitherto neglected but common phenomenon of technological regress. A growing population engenders the endogenous adoption of new techniques that increase the division of labor. Coversely, technological progress supports an increasing population in the Malthusian environment. A transient shock to population or productivity, however, induces the neglect of some techniques rendered temporarily unprofitable, which are therefore not transmitted to the next generation. When the shock passes, the division of labor remains constrained by the smaller stock of knowledge, and technology has thereby regressed. A slow process of rediscovery is required for the economy to reach its previous level of technological sophistication and population size. The model is employed to analyze specific historical examples of technological regress.

Technological Regress, Technological Progress, Malthusian Stagnation, Division of Labor

Abstract:
This paper examines the effect of inequality on the incentives to emigrate according to a person's observable and unobservable skills. Borjas (1987) shows that higher skilled individuals are more likely to emigrate than lower skilled individuals when the returns to skill are higher in a potential foreign destination. Building on this framework, we develop a model which shows that this prediction holds for observable skills like education which are general in the sense of being easily transferable to another country. However, we show that the relationship between unobservable skills and the probability of emigrating is an inverse U-shape - since unobservable skills are a mixture of general skills and country-specific skills which are not easily transferable. We examine the predictions of our model with a unique data set containing information on who emigrates from Israel between 1995 and 2004, combined with a full set of demographic and labor market variables for both movers and stayers in 1995. By exploiting differences between Israel and the United States in the returns to observable (education) and unobservable skills across different sectors (industries and occupations), we find strong evidence that a lower return to unobservable skills in Israel versus the US entices higher ability Israelis to leave the country. Also, we find that virtually the entire positive relationship between education and the rate of emigration would be eliminated if the returns to education were increased in Israel to US levels within each industry. Overall, the results strongly support our model and the importance of differentiating between general and country-specific skills in the analysis of immigrant selection.

country-specific skills, emigration, general skills, income inequality, return to education

Abstract:
This paper examines the effect of inequality on the incentives to emigrate according to a person's observable and unobservable skills. Borjas (1987) shows that higher skilled individuals are more likely to emigrate than lower skilled individuals when the returns to skill are higher in a potential foreign destination. Building on this framework, we develop a model which shows that this prediction holds for observable skills like education which are "general" in the sense of being easily transferable to another country. However, we show that the relationship between unobservable skills and the probability of emigrating is an inverse U-shape - since unobservable skills are a mixture of "general skills" and "country-specific skills" which are not easily transferable. We examine the predictions of our model with a unique data set containing information on who emigrates from Israel between 1995 and 2004, combined with a full set of demographic and labor market variables for both movers and stayers in 1995. By exploiting differences between Israel and the United States in the returns to observable (education) and unobservable skills across different sectors (industries and occupations), we find strong evidence that a lower return to unobservable skills in Israel versus the US entices higher ability Israelis to leave the country. Also, we find that emigrants are more positively selected in terms of their education in industries with a lower relative return to education in Israel versus the US. Overall, the results strongly support our model and the importance of differentiating between general and "country-specific" skills in the analysis of immigrant selection.

emigration, selection, observable skills, unobservable skills

Abstract:
This paper develops a growth theory that captures the replacement of physical capital accumulation by human capital accumulation as a prime engine of growth along the process of development. It argues that the positive impact of inequality on the growth process was reversed in this process. In early stages of the Industrial Revolution, when physical capital accumulation was the prime source of growth, inequality stimulated development by channelling resources towards individuals with a higher propensity to save. As human capital emerged as a growth engine, equality alleviated adverse effects of credit constraints on human capital accumulation, stimulating the growth process.

Abstract:
This paper develops a growth theory that captures the replacement of physical capital accumulation by human capital accumulation as a prime engine of growth along the process of development. It argues that the positive impact of inequality on the growth process was reversed in this process. In early stages of the Industrial Revolution, when physical capital accumulation was the prime source of growth, inequality stimulated development by channelling resources towards individuals with a higher propensity to save. As human capital emerged as a growth engine, equality alleviated adverse effects of credit constraints on human capital accumulation, stimulating the growth process.

Abstract:
The history of society is the history of struggles between social classes. Karl Marx

This paper suggests that the demise of the capitalists-workers class structure was a socio-economic transformation orchestrated by the capitalists in reaction to the increasing importance of human capital in sustaining their profit rates. Physical capital accumulation in the process of industrialization enhanced the importance of human capital in production and generated incentives for capitalists to support the provision of public education for the masses, triggering the demise of the existing class structure. The implications of the theory are consistent with the voting patterns on England's education reform of 1902.

Abstract:
The history of society is the history of struggles between social classes.

Karl Marx

This paper suggests that the demise of the capitalists-workers class structure was a socio-economic transformation orchestrated by the capitalists in reaction to the increasing importance of human capital in sustaining their profit rates. Physical capital accumulation in the process of industrialization enhanced the importance of human capital in production and generated incentives for capitalists to support the provision of public education for the masses, triggering the demise of the existing class structure. The implications of the theory are consistent with the voting patterns on England`s education reform of 1902.

Abstract:
This paper suggests that inequality in the distribution of landownership adversely affected the emergence of human-capital promoting institutions (e.g. public schooling), and thus the pace and the nature of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial economy, contributing to the emergence of the great divergence in income per capita across countries. The prediction of the theory regarding the adverse effect of the concentration of landownership on education expenditure is established empirically based on evidence from the beginning of the 20th century in the U.S.

Abstract:
This paper offers an explanation for some evidence that intergenerational earnings mobility is higher in more developed economies and that mobility is positively correlated with wage equality. In the model mobility promotes economic growth via its effect on the accumulation and allocation of human capital. Growth influences mobility via its effect on incentives to acquire education and its effect on liquidity constraints upon such acquisition. In the process of development mobility increases and the distribution of education becomes better correlated with ability. Redistributive policy has a negative effect on growth in developed economies and a positive effect in developing economies.

Intergenerational Income Mobility, Inequality, Growth, Human Capital

Abstract:
I show that non-convexities in technology, assumed in the capital market imperfection literature on the relationship between income distribution and economic development, can be replaced by an assumption that the bequest function is convex with respect to income.

Growth, Wealth distribution, Human Capital

Abstract:
This paper develops a growth model in which the endogenous evolution of technological progress and wage inequality is consistent with the observed pattern in the United States and several European economies in the last two centuries. The model accounts for: a) the rise in wage inequality between and within groups of skilled and unskilled workers, the increase in the average wage of skilled workers despite the increase in supply, and the decline in the average wage of unskilled workers, as observed during the 1980s and 1990s; b) the rise in wage inequality within groups and the decline in wage inequality between groups during the 1970s; c) the cyclical evolution of the wage differential between skilled and unskilled workers in the last centuries; and d) the productivity slowdown.