Fundamental to the Malthusian model of pre-industrial society is the assumption that higher income increased … preindustrial world is weak. Here we examine the relationship between income and net fertility using a large new cross …-sectional data set on reproductive success, social status and income for England between 1585 and 1638. We find that for early …

income per capita stagnation in the pre-Industrial Revolution era. The theory suggests that improvements in technology during … this period generated only temporary gains in income per capita, eventually leading to a larger but not richer population …