“The Origin of the State: Land Productivity or Appropriability?”, 2022-03-08 ():
The 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, using 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.
…As Scott (2017, pg21) puts it, “It is surely striking that virtually all classical states were based on grain…History records no cassava states, no sago, yam, taro, plantain, breadfruit, or sweet potato states.”
Cereal grains can be stored and, because they are harvested seasonally, have to be stored so that they can be drawn on for year-round subsistence. The relative ease of confiscating stored cereals, their high energy density, and their durability enhance their appropriability, thereby facilitating the emergence of tax-levying elites. Roots and tubers, in contrast, are typically perennial and do not have to be reaped in a particular period, and once harvested they are rather perishable.