An Escape from the Malthusian Trap: A Case of the Chosŏn Dynasty of Korea from 1701 to 1891 Viewed in Light of the British Industrial Revolution

Abstract

Population and wage records from the Chosŏn Dynasty of Korea from 18th to 19th centuries are compared with Wrigley－Schofields wage－population dynamics of Britain during the industrial revolution. A one-sector agrarian Cobb－Douglas economy is proposed for a possible comparison of the two economies. Natural resources such as land are the limiting factors of production that binds an economy in the Malthusian trap. This paper argues that population size is critical for an economy to break through the Malthusian trap. The success of Britain in escaping from the Malthusian trap during the industrial revolution is examined in terms of the productivity of the agricultural sector. A self-generating population equilibrium model for the transitional phase of the post-Malthusian economy is proposed. No comparable productivity improvements in the agricultural sector of Chosŏn were observed during the corresponding periods of the British industrial revolution. No substantial changes in the population and wage rates occurred for the Chosŏn Dynasty in the 18th to 19th centuries. Essentially, Chosŏn remained under the typical Malthusian stationary state.