The Climatic Origins of the Neolithic Revolution: A Theory of Long-Run Development via Climate-Induced Technological Progress

Abstract:     
This research examines the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and sheds new light on the emergence of farming by focusing on the interplay among environmental conditions, investments in technology and population density. The study contributes to an understanding of the interaction between climatic sequences and technological progress, and analyzes the effect of environmentally triggered technological advancement on the evolution of population size in a foraging regime. It identifies the importance of an environment characterized by recurrent mild adversities as the driving force that enabled societies to make the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture. The analysis suggests that differences in regional climatic sequences after the Last Glacial Maximum generated heterogeneous population densities. The associated variation in technological investment gave rise to disparities in the accumulation of intrinsic agricultural knowledge. This resulted in the differential timing of the transition to agriculture and, consequently, led to the observed contemporary divergence in income per-capita across countries.

Keywords: Hunter-gatherers, Agriculture, Neolithic Revolution, Technological Progress, Climate, Population

JEL Classifications: J10, O11, O13, O33, O40, Q54, Q55

Working Paper Series