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From Saddles to Harrows: Agricultural Technology Adoption during the Russian Colonization in Kazakhstan

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Shubina

    (Department of Geography, University of NamurAuthor-Name: Gani Aldashev
    Department of Economics and CRED, University of Namur)

  • Sabine Henry

    (Department of Geography, University of Namur)

Abstract

Technology adoption in agriculture is one of the key factors of change in rural areas of developing countries. Large-scale in-migration by groups using a more advanced production technology often triggers such change in autochthone populations. We analyse the determinants of adoption of new agricultural technology by nomadic pastoralists using unique micro-level data from a historical episode of massive Russian peasant in-migration into Kazakhstan at the turn of the 20th century. We find that distance to Russian settlers is a key determinant of technology adoption, even after controlling for socio-economic and environmental characteristics. This effect is stronger for wealthier and less mobile Kazakh families with pasture land more suitable for agriculture. The adoption of new technology follows a heterogeneous pattern within the autochthone population, with important implications for the evolution of inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Shubina & Sabine Henry, 2014. "From Saddles to Harrows: Agricultural Technology Adoption during the Russian Colonization in Kazakhstan," Working Papers 1407, University of Namur, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:nam:wpaper:1407
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    File URL: http://www.fundp.ac.be/eco/economie/recherche/wpseries/wp/1407.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2014
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    Cited by:

    1. Natkhov, Timur, 2015. "Colonization and development: The long-term effect of Russian settlement in the North Caucasus, 1890s–2000s," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 76-97.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    technology adoption; nomadic pastoralism; migration; Kazakhstan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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