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Food security, harvest shocks, and the potato as secondary crop in Saxony, 1792-1811

Author

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  • Grünebaum, Tim
  • Uebele, Martin

    (Groningen University)

Abstract

This article has two aims: First, it is a contribution to development economics, in particular to the literature about food risk in rural economies. We contribute by emphasizing crop diversification as a means of reducing the variance of household food production, and by providing empirical evidence for the success of this strategy in a historical setting. Second, the article contributes to economic history by addressing the relationship between early industrialisation and agrarian change. We interpret the structure of agricultural production in the context of a low energy-high labour input proto-industrial equilibrium, where household production of a diversified food bundle represents an effective way to fight food risk. This should be seen in line with a literature highlighting endogenous adjustment of agricultural production to demand shifts from the non-agricultural sectors (Grantham 1989, Kopsidis and Wolf 2012).

Suggested Citation

  • Grünebaum, Tim & Uebele, Martin, 2013. "Food security, harvest shocks, and the potato as secondary crop in Saxony, 1792-1811," GGDC Research Memorandum GD-139, Groningen Growth and Development Centre, University of Groningen.
    • Handle: RePEc:gro:rugggd:gd-139
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    Cited by:

    1. Ulrich Pfister & Georg Fertig, 2020. "From Malthusian Disequilibrium to the Post-Malthusian Era: The Evolution of the Preventive and Positive Checks in Germany, 1730–1870," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 1145-1170, June.
    2. Martin Uebele & Tim Grünebaum & Michael Kopsidis, 2013. "King's law and food storage in Saxony, c. 1790-1830," CQE Working Papers 2613, Center for Quantitative Economics (CQE), University of Muenster.

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