Mayshar, JoramMoav, OmerPascali, Luigi2023-07-312023-07-312022Mayshar J, Moav O, Pascali L. The origin of the state: land productivity or appropriability?. J Polit Econ. 2022;130(4):1091-144. DOI: 10.1086/7183720022-3808http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57736The conventional theory about the origin of the state is that the adoption of farming increased land productivity, which led to the production of food surplus. This surplus was a prerequisite for the emergence of tax-levying elites and, eventually, states. We challenge this theory and propose that hierarchy arose as a result of the shift to dependence on appropriable cereal grains. Our empirical investigation, utilizing multiple data sets spanning several millennia, demonstrates a causal effect of the cultivation of cereals on hierarchy, without finding a similar effect for land productivity. We further support our claims with several case studies.application/pdfeng© University of Chicago Press http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ET/home.htmlProductes agrícoles excedentsPropietatinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1086/718372info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess