![]() ![]() As is well known, social tables allow us to roughly estimate income inequality. ![]() It makes use of a relatively large collection of social tables for preindustrial societies, including overall 40 social tables for about 30 distinct countries/world areas over a very long time: from Athens in 330 BCE to British India in 1938. ![]() This paper was distributed by NEP-HIS on. The results are very interesting and represent a useful step forward in our understanding of inequality change in preindustrial societies. He focuses in particular on institutional factors (inequality in colonies vs other areas) and on demographic factors (population density). In this new working paper, Milanovic tries to move forward, using a large database of social tables to single out the potential causes of differences in historical inequality levels and in inequality extraction. Branko Milanovic has been particularly active in this field, with the publication of a recent book on Global Inequality: A New Approach for the Age of Globalization (2016, Harvard University Press). Given the recent increase in the availability of good-quality data on pre-industrial (or pre-modern) societies, there is much need for works of synthesis aimed at discovering the factors shaping long-term inequality trends. We propose several possibilities linking high population density to low inequality and to low elite extraction.ĭistributed by NEP-HIS on: Guido Alfani (Bocconi University, Milan) We find strong evidence that elites in colonies were more extractive, and that more densely populated countries exhibited lower extraction ratios. “Towards an explanation of inequality in pre-modern societies: the role of colonies and high population density”īy Branko Milanovic (City University of New York)Ībstract: Using the newly expanded set of 40 social tables from pre-modern societies, the paper tries to find out the factors associated with the level of inequality and the inequality extraction ratio (how close to the maximum inequality have the elites pushed the actual inequality). ![]()
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