How substitutable are fixed factors in production? evidence from pre-industrial England

Joshua Wilde

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Whether fixed factors such as land constrain per-capita income growth depends crucially on two variables: the substitutability of fixed factors in production, and the extent to which innovation is biased towards land-saving technologies. This paper attempts to quantify both. Using the timing of plague epidemics as an instrument for labor supply, I estimate the elasticity of substitution between fixed and non-fixed factors in pre-industrial England to be significantly less than one. In addition, I find evidence that denser populations – and hence higher land scarcity – induced innovation towards land-saving technologies.

Keywords: Land; Industrial Revolution; Induced Innovation; Fixed Factors; Substitutability; Population; England; Plagues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E10 J13 N13 N33 N53 O31 O4 Q15 Q24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/39278/2/MPRA_paper_39278.pdf original version (application/pdf)
https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/39844/1/MPRA_paper_39844.pdf revised version (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: How Substitutable are Fixed Factors in Production? Evidence from Pre-industrial England (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pra:mprapa:39278

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