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| Fenske, James. |
| I show how abundant land and scarce labor shaped African institutions before colonial rule. I present a model in which exogenous suitability of the land for agriculture and endogenously evolving population determine the existence of land rights, slavery, and polygyny. I then use cross-sectional data on pre-colonial African societies to demonstrate that, consistent with the model, the existence of land rights, slavery, and polygyny occurred in those parts of Africa that were the most suitable for agriculture, and in which population density was greatest. Next, I use the model to explain institutions among the Egba of southwestern Nigeria from 1830 to 1914. While many Egba institutions were typical of a land-abundant environment, they sold land and had... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Africa; Institutions; Land rights; Slavery; Polygyny; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Farm Management; Institutional and Behavioral Economics; International Development; Land Economics/Use; Political Economy; N57; O10. |
| Ano: 2009 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/55707 |
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| Gould, Eric D.; Moav, Omer; Simhon, Avi. |
| 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. This paper argues that the sources of inequality, not just the level of inequality, determine the equilibrium degree of monogamy or polygamy. In particular, when inequality is determined more by disparities in human capital versus non-labor income (such as land, capital, corruption), the outcome is more monogamous. This explains why developed countries, where human capital is the main source of income and inequality, are monogamous while less-developed economies tend to be polygynous. The results are... |
| Tipo: Working or Discussion Paper |
Palavras-chave: Marriage; Monogamy; Polygyny; Human Capital; Inequality; J12; J24; O10; O40; Labor and Human Capital. |
| Ano: 2003 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/14992 |
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