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The Origins of Inequality: Insiders, Outsiders, Elites, and Commoners

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Abstract

Permanent economic inequality is unknown among mobile hunter-gatherers, but hereditary class distinctions between elites and commoners exist in some sedentary foraging societies. With the spread of agriculture, such stratification tends to become more pronounced. We develop a model to explain the associations among productivity, population density, and inequality. We show that regional productivity growth leads to enclosure of the best sites first, creating inequality between insiders and outsiders. This is followed by the emergence of elites and commoners at the best sites. As this process unfolds, elites and commoners have increasingly unequal food consumption. In some cases, the elite specializes in guarding land while relying entirely on the food produced by commoners. Our analysis is consistent with archaeological evidence from southern California, the northwest coast of North America, southwest Asia, and Polynesia.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory Dow & Clyde Reed, 2009. "The Origins of Inequality: Insiders, Outsiders, Elites, and Commoners," Discussion Papers dp09-03, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    • Handle: RePEc:sfu:sfudps:dp09-03
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    1. Ian McDougall & Francis H. Brown & John G. Fleagle, 2005. "Stratigraphic placement and age of modern humans from Kibish, Ethiopia," Nature, Nature, vol. 433(7027), pages 733-736, February.
    2. G. M.P. Swann, 2009. "The Economics of Innovation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13211, December.
    3. Gregory Dow & Clyde Reed & Nancy Olewiler, 2009. "Climate reversals and the transition to agriculture," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 27-53, March.
    4. Dow, Gregory K. & Reed, Clyde G., 2011. "Stagnation and innovation before agriculture," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 339-350, March.
    5. Samuel Bowles, 2003. "The First Property Rights Revolution," Theory workshop papers 505798000000000091, UCLA Department of Economics.
    6. Matthew J. Baker, 2003. "An Equilibrium Conflict Model of Land Tenure in Hunter-Gatherer Societies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 124-173, February.
    7. Douglass C. North & Robert Paul Thomas, 1977. "The First Economic Revolution," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 30(2), pages 229-241, May.
    8. de Meza, David & Gould, J R, 1992. "The Social Efficiency of Private Decisions to Enforce Property Rights," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 561-580, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Athey, Susan & Calvano, Emilio & Jha, Saumitra, 2016. "A Theory of Community Formation and Social Hierarchy," Research Papers 3467, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    2. Gilles, Robert P. & Pesce, Marialaura & Diamantaras, Dimitrios, 2020. "The provision of collective goods through a social division of labour," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 287-312.
    3. Bruce Winterhalder, 2015. "Jared Diamond: The world until yesterday: what can we learn from traditional societies?," Journal of Bioeconomics, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 303-307, October.
    4. Sania Nisar, 2014. "The real story of legislations in Pakistan," South Asian Journal of Management Sciences (SAJMS), Iqra University, Iqra University, vol. 8(2), pages 87-94, Fall.
    5. Gregory K. Dow & Clyde G. Reed & Simon Woodcock, 2016. "The Economics Of Exogamous Marriage In Small-Scale Societies," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1805-1823, October.
    6. Dow, Gregory K. & Reed, Clyde G., 2015. "The origins of sedentism: Climate, population, and technology," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 56-71.
    7. Dow, Gregory K. & Mitchell, Leanna & Reed, Clyde G., 2017. "The economics of early warfare over land," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 297-305.
    8. Javier Mejía, 2018. "The Network Formation Origin of Tribal Societies," Documentos CEDE 16381, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    9. Etro, Federico, 2017. "Research in economics and macroeconomics," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 373-383.
    10. Kaixian Mao & Huidi Lu & Bilian Ni Sullivan, 2023. "The paradox of political legitimacy: the political inclusion and entrepreneurs’ firm strategies," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1712-1742, September.
    11. Borcan, Oana & Olsson, Ola & Putterman, Louis, 2021. "Transition to agriculture and first state presence: A global analysis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Konstantinos Angelopoulos & Spyridon Lazarakis & Rebecca Mancy & Dorice Agol & Elissaios Papyrakis, 2023. "Resource Risk and the Origins of Inequality: Evidence from a Pastoralist Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 10611, CESifo.
    13. Stephan Heblich & Alex Trew, 2019. "Banking and Industrialization," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(6), pages 1753-1796.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; stratification; prehistory; archaeology; anthropology; insiders; outsiders; elites; commoners; productivity; population density; foraging; hunting and gathering; agriculture;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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