World Hunger - by Mitchell Kellman (Hardcover)

About the Book

This book offers a broad perspective on the issue of world hunger, analyzing the long-term data on food production from 1885 to the present. Exploring evidence of the validity of Malthusian theory throughout history, the book documents those cases where innovations in food-producing technologies were adopted in response to population pressures and crises of hunger.

Book Synopsis

This book offers a broad perspective on the issue of world hunger, analyzing the long-term data on food production from 1885 to the present. Exploring evidence of the validity of Malthusian theory throughout history, the book documents those cases where innovations in food-producing technologies were adopted in response to population pressures and crises of hunger.

Review Quotes

?This study, which might serve as a methodological model for economic researchers, is an attempt to explain aggregate changes in regional food-producing technology from the latter part of the 19th century to the present. In particular, Kellman investigates whether empirical evidence supports classical arguments that diminishing returns account for inadequate world food supplies. Throughout, the author evaluates the quality of statistics about the food/population nexus; he provides a condensed although adequate historical background for the modern concern about it. Kellman's empirical tests are organized around five models of population growth trends and density levels that interact with the overall food supply.... More than most, this study is relevant to indisciplinary work, including work in the history of economic thought, demography, agricultural economics, and development economics. Illuminating footnotes and references; excellent select bibliography. Most appropriate for graduate level collections.?-Choice

"This study, which might serve as a methodological model for economic researchers, is an attempt to explain aggregate changes in regional food-producing technology from the latter part of the 19th century to the present. In particular, Kellman investigates whether empirical evidence supports classical arguments that diminishing returns account for inadequate world food supplies. Throughout, the author evaluates the quality of statistics about the food/population nexus; he provides a condensed although adequate historical background for the modern concern about it. Kellman's empirical tests are organized around five models of population growth trends and density levels that interact with the overall food supply.... More than most, this study is relevant to indisciplinary work, including work in the history of economic thought, demography, agricultural economics, and development economics. Illuminating footnotes and references; excellent select bibliography. Most appropriate for graduate level collections."-Choice

About the Author

MITCHELL H. KELLMAN is Professor of Economics at the City College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York.