Economies of Scale and Farm Size in the Antebellum Sugar Sector

Mark D. Schmitz

The Journal of Economic History, 1977, vol. 37, issue 4, 959-980

Abstract: This article explains the emergence of a plantation economy in the antebellum sugar sector. The hypothesis of increasing returns to scale was tested using a Zellner-Revankar generalized production function model. Economies of scale were found using samples from the manuscript censuses, but these scale economies diminished with size. A second important factor in explaining the size distribution of farms was the dual technology in the manufacturing stage of sugar production. Farms with inferior horse-power mills had poorer survival records and less flexibility in expansion than those using steam power mills.

Date: 1977
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