Arresting the Sword of Damocles: The transition to the post-Malthusian era in Denmark

The Malthusian model is the subject of a fierce debate within economic history. Although positive causal relationship postulated from living standards to population growth relatively uncontroversial for preindustrial societies, this cannot be said other key relationship, diminishing returns due fixed supplies land. We argue that Denmark, which was characterized by extreme resource and environmental constraints until final decades eighteenth century, provides an ideal setting testing whether any society ever truly Malthusian. employ cointegrated VAR on Danish data 1731 1800, finding evidence ca. 1775. Yet disappears in late-eighteenth consistent with increasing pace technological progress emergence what Unified Growth Theory has termed “post-Malthusian” era.