Esther Boserup
By: Marah Bengtson 3rd Hour 3/19/2016
Esther Boserup's Backround
Boserup lived from May, 1910 to September, 1999. She lived in Denmark and studied at the University of Copenhagen. She was an economist who studied economic and agricultural development. She also worked at the United Nations and is a well known author. Boserup is best known for the Boserupian Theory and her book: The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change under Population Pressure
Boserupian Theory
Population Presses Produce!
The Boserupian Theory explains the effect a large population has on agriculture and agricultural innovations. She believes a higher population means more workers to keep up with the demand of crops, also a higher population puts more pressure on the agricultural system which stimulates innovation. As you can see on the model above, the red line is the exponentially increasing population due to many variables such as increased health care. The blue line models the amount of resources (food crops). The line resembles stairs, each rapid increase refers to an agricultural innovation that has been made because of the high population stressing the food source. Her theory conflicts with Malthus' Theory