IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hes/wpaper/0028.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Peasant Agriculture and Economic Growth: The Case of Southeast Europe c. 1870-1940 reinterpreted

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Kopsidis

    (Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO / Halle))

Abstract

Still in recent research a low productive peasant economy and traditional peasant society are often made responsible for Southeast Europe's economic backwardness prior to 1945. However, the radical change of paradigm after 1960 in the view of peasants as agents of economic growth and of their ability to adjust to markets has surprisingly never been realized in economic history research on the Balkan-states (Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Greece). Interpreting agricultural development as a mainly demand-driven process this paper argues that the potential for agricultural growth was much more restricted in Southeast than in Northwest Europe but Balkan peasants seem to have exploited their growth potential as far as possible. There is a lot of evidence that the reasons for sluggish growth before 1940 were definitely not rooted in any 'peasant traditionalism' as often claimed by Balkan elites and many scholars.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Kopsidis, 2012. "Peasant Agriculture and Economic Growth: The Case of Southeast Europe c. 1870-1940 reinterpreted," Working Papers 0028, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    • Handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0028
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ehes.org/wp/EHES_No28.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kopsidis, Michael & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2012. "Agricultural Productivity Across Prussia During the Industrial Revolution: A Thünen Perspective," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(3), pages 634-670, August.
    2. Allen, Robert C., 2000. "Economic structure and agricultural productivity in Europe, 1300–1800," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, April.
    3. Hayami, Yujiro & Kawagoe, Toshihiko, 1989. "Farm mechanization, scale economies and polarization : The Japanese experience," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 221-239, October.
    4. Binswanger, Hans P. & Deininger, Klaus & Feder, Gershon, 1995. "Power, distortions, revolt and reform in agricultural land relations," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 42, pages 2659-2772, Elsevier.
    5. Christopher B. Barrett & Michael R. Carter & C. Peter Timmer, 2010. "A Century-Long Perspective on Agricultural Development," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 92(2), pages 447-468.
    6. Grantham, George, 1999. "Contra Ricardo: On the macroeconomics of pre-industrial economies," European Review of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 199-232, August.
    7. Bromley, Daniel W., 2008. "Resource degradation in the African commons: accounting for institutional decay," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(5), pages 539-563, October.
    8. Braverman, Avishay & Stiglitz, Joseph E, 1982. "Sharecropping and the Interlinking of Agrarian Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(4), pages 695-715, September.
    9. Otsuka, Keijiro & Hayami, Yujiro, 1988. "Theories of Share Tenancy: A Critical Survey," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 31-68, October.
    10. Michael Kopsidis & Nikolaus Wolf, 2012. "Agricultural Productivity Across Prussia During the Industrial Revolution: A ThŸnen Perspective," Working Papers 0013, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    11. Grantham, George, 1989. "Agricultural Supply During the Industrial Revolution: French Evidence and European Implications," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 43-72, March.
    12. Yujiro Hayami, 1996. "The Peasant in Economic Modernization," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(5), pages 1157-1167.
    13. Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2011. "Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262015153, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ivanov, Martin & Kopsidis, Michael, 2023. "Industrialisation in a small grain economy during the First Globalisation: Bulgaria c. 1870–1910," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 76(1), pages 169-198.
    2. Robert Buckley & Ashna Mathema, 2018. "Housing privatization in Romania : An Anti†commons tragedy?," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 26(1), pages 127-145, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Kopsidis & Ulrich Pfister, 2013. "Agricultural development during early industrialization in a low-wage economy: Saxony, c. 1790-1830," Working Papers 0039, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    2. repec:zbw:iamodp:178686 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Kopsidis, Michael & Bromley, Daniel W., 2014. "The French Revolution and German industrialization: The new institutional economics rewrites history," IAMO Discussion Papers 149, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    4. Michael Kopsidis & Nikolaus Wolf, 2012. "Agricultural Productivity Across Prussia During the Industrial Revolution: A ThŸnen Perspective," Working Papers 0013, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    5. repec:dgr:rugggd:gd-139 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Theresa Finley & Raphaël Franck & Noel D. Johnson, 2021. "The Effects of Land Redistribution: Evidence from the French Revolution," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 64(2), pages 233-267.
    7. Dethier, Jean-Jacques & Effenberger, Alexandra, 2012. "Agriculture and development: A brief review of the literature," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 175-205.
    8. Michael Kopsidis & Katja Bruisch & Daniel W. Bromley, 2013. "Where is the Backward Peasant? Regional Crop Yields on Common and Private Land in Russia 1883-1913," Working Papers 0046, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    9. Ulrich Pfister, 2020. "Urban population in Germany, 1500 - 1850," CQE Working Papers 9020, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.
    10. Johnson, Noel D. & Koyama, Mark, 2017. "Jewish communities and city growth in preindustrial Europe," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 339-354.
    11. Wojciech Sroka & Jaroslaw Mikolajczyk & Tomasz Wojewodzic & Boguslawa Kwoczynska, 2018. "Agricultural Land vs. Urbanisation in Chosen Polish Metropolitan Areas: A Spatial Analysis Based on Regression Trees," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-22, March.
    12. Deininger, Klaus & Jin, Songqing, 2007. "Land rental markets in the process of rural structural transformation : productivity and equity impacts in China," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4454, The World Bank.
    13. Huning, Thilo R. & Wahl, Fabian, 2021. "The fetters of inheritance? Equal partition and regional economic development," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    14. Michael Pammer, 2017. "Did higher inequality in agriculture enhance productivity? The case of Cisleithania, 1902," Working Papers 17006, Economic History Society.
    15. Suesse, Marvin & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2020. "Rural transformation, inequality, and the origins of microfinance," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    16. Benedykt Pepliński, 2020. "Location of Cows and Pigs in Suburban Areas of Polish Metropolitan Centers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, March.
    17. Fouka, Vasiliki & Schlaepfer, Alain, 2017. "Agricultural Returns to Labor and the Origins of Work Ethics," MPRA Paper 78556, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Francesco Cinnirella & Erik Hornung, 2016. "Land Inequality, Education, and Marriage: Empirical Evidence from Nineteenth-Century Prussia," CESifo Working Paper Series 6072, CESifo.
    19. David Chilosi & Carlo Ciccarelli, 2021. "Southern and Northern Italy in the Great Divergence: New Perspectives from the Occupational Structure," Quaderni di storia economica (Economic History Working Papers) 47, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    20. Finley, Theresa, 2021. "Free riding in the monastery: Club goods, the cistercian order and agricultural investment in Ancien Regime France," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 318-336.
    21. Jonathan Conning, 2002. "Latifundia Economics," Economics Working Paper Archive at Hunter College 02/1, Hunter College Department of Economics.
    22. Lukasz SATOLA & Tomasz WOJEWODZIC & Wojciech SROKA, 2018. "Barriers to exit encountered by small farms in light of the theory of new institutional economics," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 64(6), pages 277-290.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Romania; Bulgaria; Yugoslavia; Greece; agricultural development; peasant economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N54 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0028. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Paul Sharp (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ehessea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.