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Title: Was Domar Right? Serfdom and Factor Endowments in Bohemia

Author(s): Alexander Klein and Sheilagh C. Ogilvie

Publication Date: October 2017

Keyword(s): institutions, Labor coercion, land-labor ratio, rural-urban interaction and serfdom

Programme Area(s): Economic History

Abstract: Do factor endowments explain serfdom? Domar (1970) conjectured that high land-labor ratios caused serfdom by increasing incentives to coerce labor. But historical evidence is mixed and quantitative analyses are lacking. Using the Acemoglu-Wolitzky (2011) framework and controlling for political economy variables by studying a specific serf society, we analyze 11,349 Bohemian serf villages in 1757. The net effect of higher land-labor ratios was indeed to increase coercion. The effect greatly increased when animal labor was included, and diminished as land-labor ratios rose. Controlling for other variables, factor endowments significantly influenced serfdom. Institutions, we conclude, are shaped partly by economic fundamentals.

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Bibliographic Reference

Klein, A and Ogilvie, S. 2017. 'Was Domar Right? Serfdom and Factor Endowments in Bohemia'. London, Centre for Economic Policy Research. https://cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=12388