Was Domar right? : serfdom and factor endowments in Bohemia

Alexander Klein and Sheilagh Ogilvie

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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Year of publication:	[2017]
Authors:	Klein, Alexander ; Ogilvie, Sheilagh C.
Publisher:	Canterbury, Kent : School of Economics, Keynes College, University of Kent
Subject:	serfdom \| land-labor ratio \| institutions \| labor coercion \| rural-urban interaction \| Böhmen \| Bohemia \| Zwangsarbeit \| Forced labour \| Agrargeschichte \| Agricultural history \| Faktorintensität \| Factor intensity \| Boden \| Land \| Arbeitsintensität \| Labour intensity \| Stadt-Land-Beziehungen \| Rural-urban relations \| Theorie \| Theory \| Schätzung \| Estimation \| 1757