The causes of slavery: a hypothesis

Expert InsightsPublished 1967

This discussion of the cause of agricultural slavery revives and expands the postulation that sparse population and a need for a non-working class of owners forms the basis of slavery. So long as land is abundant and capital requirements low, free labor will be scarce or nonexistent. With labor tied to the land, the landowner can then extract rent from the slave (not the land) by appropriating his income above the subsistence level. Until the difference between free and slave costs, slavery will not die out. This is more likely to happen in an agraian society, without technological progress and capital accumulation, as land becomes scarce. This discussion of the cause of agricultural slavery revives and expands the postulation that sparse population and a need for a non-working class of owners forms the basis of slavery. So long as land is abundant and capital requirements low, free labor will be scarce or nonexistent. With labor tied to the land, the landowner can then extract rent from the slave (not the land) by appropriating his income above the subsistence level. Until the difference between free and slave productivity is greater than the difference between free and slave costs, slavery will not die out. This is more likely to happen in an agrarian society, without technological progress and capital accumulation, as land becomes scarce. 14 pp.

Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Web Only
  • Year: 1967
  • Pages: 29
  • Document Number: P-3482

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The causes of slavery: a hypothesis. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 1967. https://www.rand.org/pubs/papers/P3482.html.
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