title: Demographic pressure and the Irish famine:  Malthus after Mokyr.
abstract: "This paper presents a fresh analysis of demographic pressure in pre-Famine Ireland.  The crucial issue is one of measurement.  Population pressure is taken as the ratio of population to non-reproducible natural resources, that is, land."  The author develops a measure of land quality that is used to test the Malthusian hypothesis.  "The central finding of this paper may be stated quite simply:  when proper account is given to the measurement of land quality and demographic pressure, then the Malthusian hypothesis that income per capita decreases with population pressure is not rejected by the evidence of pre-Famine Ireland."
authors.forename: P P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Mcgregor
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003710:Demography; D019049:Developed Countries; D004467:Economics; D004777:Environment; D005060:Europe; D005523:Food Supply; D007182:Income; D007494:Ireland; D009660:Northern Ireland; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012942:Social Sciences; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013217:Starvation; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Carrying Capacity; Demography; Developed Countries; Economic Factors; Environment; Europe; Famine; Food Supply; Historical Demography; Income; Ireland; Land Supply; Malthusianism; Natural Resources; Northern Europe; Northern Ireland; Population Pressure; Population Theory; Social Sciences; Socioeconomic Factors; United Kingdom