Search Results

The specialization of urban regions in different tradable industries is the source of significant differences in wages and income levels. Los Angeles was more specialized than San Francisco in 1970 but considerably less specialized in 2010. During this period, San Francisco consolidated its specialization in activities related to information technology, and Los Angeles consolidated its hold on the entertainment industries, but Los Angeles lost many other high-wage specializations it formerly contained, replacing them with low-wage specializations. Los Angeles also lost its lead over San Francisco in innovative sectors, as the latter soared in its per capita patenting rate. All in all, Los Angeles’s economy came to have less overall focus and sophistication, while San Francisco’s came to have more.

This chapter discusses craft production in the Classic Mayan civilization. Focus is centered on the organization of salt production which gives a glimpse on the organization of labor, occupational specialization and the level of economic specialization in the Classic Maya. In this chapter it is found out that standardization was prevalent in the salt production in Punta Ycacos sites. These were observed in the vessels, jars, and vessel supports used in salt works and production. Evidence suggests that salt production carried out in Punta Ycacos was carried out by independent specialists and that salt production during the Late Classic Maya was specialized as indicated by the standardization of salt-making equipment and vessels. The existence of specialized salt production in the Mayan culture was implied by the absence of the remnants of animals and plant food suggesting salt production in the Late Classic Maya at the Punta Ycacos was not carried out in household production sites but rather in specialized salt production sites. Salt production in Punta Ycacos Lagoon along the Belizean coast suggest of an independent production of utilitarian goods and it also indicates their short-distance within the Maya lowlands. Interestingly, this coastal-inland trade also suggests a strong link to the long-distance trade of exotics and highly crafted goods for the inland elite as suggested by the existence of royal goods and pottery implying that the elite inland assured their supply of salt by creating vertical alliances with the coastal elite and by tying them into their rituals, ceremonies, and marriages.

Transport was of fundamental importance to agriculture, the main economic activity in the ancient world. This chapter analyses evidence in the papyrological record for the use of animals in agriculture, from owners of the largest estates of Egypt to the humble fellahin. A number of important archives preserve extremely valuable evidence for estate management, and show that strategies to keep capital investment in animals to a minimum were employed, and additional animals were at busy times in the agricultural year. Such economic rationalism was not confined to the owners of large estates, but can also be seen at the lowest socio-economic levels, where farmers may share animals. The chapter also considers what impact specialization in transport as an occupation might have on farming.

Although agriculture remained the predominant sector in the Roman economy, economic growth offered a wider range of economic options to individuals, which allowed a much more balanced allocation of resources. The wider range of specialization and employment opportunities allowed an increase in production that did not depend on technological innovation. The growth of the non-agricultural sectors, offering employment seasonally or permanently to members of rural households, allowed a more efficient use of available labour on the land. Consumption opportunities and a raised general standard of living induced households to raise their income, either by increasing subsidiary labour or by choosing a more labour-intensive employment strategy. Even a slight improvement in average living standards caused changes in consumption patterns. The Roman economy had not only expanded in the sense that there were more people than ever before, but all the indicators show that also per capita consumption had risen.