Towards an explanation of inequality in premodern societies: the role of colonies, urbanization, and high population density
利用41个前现代社会的社会表数据，研究发现殖民地精英更具剥削性，而人口密度高、城市化水平低的国家不平等程度较低，为理解前现代社会不平等提供了新证据。
Abstract Using a newly expanded set of 41 social tables from premodern societies, this article tries to identify the factors associated with the level of inequality and the inequality extraction ratio (how close to the maximum inequality the elites have pushed actual inequality). Strong evidence is found to show that elites in colonies were more extractive, and that more densely populated and less urbanized countries exhibited lower extraction ratios. Several possibilities are proposed, linking high population density to low inequality and to low elite extraction.