【量化历史讲座系列42】Seasonality and the Invention of Agriculture

【量化历史网上讲座系列】(Quantitative History Webinar Series)由香港大学陈志武教授和马驰骋博士联合发起并举办，旨在介绍前沿量化历史研究成果、促进同仁交流，推广量化方法在历史研究中的应用。本系列讲座由国际量化历史学会、香港大学经济管理学院和亚洲环球研究所全力支持和承办。

The Ant and the Grasshopper: Seasonality and the Invention of Agriculture

主讲人: Andrea Matranga, Assistant Professor of Economics, Chapman University

时间：2021年8月12日 12:00 - 13:30 （北京时间，星期四）

讲座语言：英文

注册链接及二维码：

https://hku.zoom.com.cn/webinar/register/3816285099386/WN_C7B7Pg68SbapcLr2KqCKeQ

During the Neolithic Revolution, seven populations independently invented agriculture. Andrea Matranga of Chapman University argues that this innovation was a response to a large increase in climatic seasonality. In the most affected regions, hunter-gatherers abandoned their traditional nomadism in order to store food and smooth their consumption. Their new sedentary lifestyle greatly simplified the invention and adoption of agriculture. 

In this Quantitative History Webinar, Andrea Matranga will present a model that captures the key incentives for adopting agriculture, and explain how the resulting predictions are tested against a global panel dataset of climate conditions and Neolithic adoption dates. Andrea Matranga finds that invention and adoption were both systematically more likely in places with higher seasonality. The findings of his paper imply that seasonality patterns 10,000 years ago were amongst the major determinants of the order in which different regions received agriculture, which in turn had a decisive influence on the rise of civilizations and subsequent human history.

“量化历史研究”公众号由陈志武（香港大学冯氏基金讲席教授、原耶鲁大学教授）和龙登高（清华大学教授）及其团队——林展（中国人民大学）、熊金武（中国政法大学）、何石军（武汉大学）、蒋勤（上海交通大学）、彭雪梅（中山大学）等人负责。向学界和业界朋友，定期推送量化历史研究经典、前沿文献。同时作为“量化历史讲习班”信息交流平台。喜欢我们的朋友请搜寻公众号：QuantitativeHistory，或扫描下面二维码关注。

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