As time passes, renewable resource scarcities are becoming more common throughout the world. There is increasing evidence that these scarcities are a causal factor in civil unrest and violent conflict, especially in developing countries. We present a simple model of renewable resource dynamics,...

The collapse of historical civilizations has received much attention in archeology and anthropology. The findings are in line with the ideas of the classical economist Thomas Malthus, who envisioned a society in which environmental limits crucial for livelihood bind, leading to a Malthusian trap...

To explain the collapse of historical civilizations, scholars typically point to suboptimal behaviors including misunderstanding the natural environment, shortsightedness, or a lack of institutions. We examine the collapse of four historical societies with a model of endogenous population growth...