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The Causal Effects of Enclosures on Production and Productivity

Author

Listed:
  • Lazuka, Volha

    (University of Southern Denmark)

  • Bengtsson, Tommy

    (Lund University)

  • Svensson, Patrick

    (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

Abstract

Enclosures enforced private property rights at the onset of industrialization, yet numerous estimations of the enclosures' effects on production and productivity rely on non- experimental designs. We estimate the causal effects of enclosure reforms applying state- of-the-art difference-in-differences and event-study methods to a large panel of farms observed between 1781 and 1865 in Sweden. Our results demonstrate that enclosures led to a 3.4 percent annual growth in land productivity in the first decade and overall production increase reached 82 percent after 30 years. Such results are much larger than previous estimates, suggesting that land enclosures were a prerequisite for modern economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Lazuka, Volha & Bengtsson, Tommy & Svensson, Patrick, 2023. "The Causal Effects of Enclosures on Production and Productivity," IZA Discussion Papers 16394, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16394
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Tasso Adamopoulos & Diego Restuccia, 2020. "Land Reform and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Micro Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 12(3), pages 1-39, July.
    2. Phillipp R. Schofield, 1996. "Tenurial developments and the availability of customary land in a later medieval community," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 49(2), pages 250-267, May.
    3. Fenoaltea, Stefano, 1976. "Risk, transaction costs, and the organization of medieval agriculture," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 129-151, April.
    4. Galiani, Sebastian & Schargrodsky, Ernesto, 2010. "Property rights for the poor: Effects of land titling," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(9-10), pages 700-729, October.
    5. Allen, Robert C., 1992. "Enclosure and the Yeoman: The Agricultural Development of the South Midlands 1450-1850," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198282969.
    6. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    7. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra E. Todd, 1997. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 605-654.
    8. Turner, Michael, 1986. "English Open Fields and Enclosures: Retardation or Productivity Improvements," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(3), pages 669-692, September.
    9. Goodman-Bacon, Andrew, 2021. "Difference-in-differences with variation in treatment timing," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 254-277.
    10. Sun, Liyang & Abraham, Sarah, 2021. "Estimating dynamic treatment effects in event studies with heterogeneous treatment effects," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 175-199.
    11. Robert C. Allen, 1999. "Tracking the agricultural revolution in England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 52(2), pages 209-235, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lazuka, Volha & Sandholt Jensen, Peter, 2021. "Multigenerational Effects of Smallpox Vaccination," Lund Papers in Economic History 232, Lund University, Department of Economic History.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    difference-in-differences; agriculture; production; property rights; enclosures; event-study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment
    • Q24 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Land
    • N53 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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