EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Productivity in German Agriculture: Estimates of Agricultural Productivity from Regional Accounts for 21 German Regions: 1880/4, 1893/7 and 1905/9

Oliver Grant

No _047, Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics

Abstract: This paper presents estimates of agricultural productivity (net value added per full-time labour unit) for 21 German regions for the years 1880/4, 1893/7 and 1905/9. The estimates are derived from regional accounts for agricultural production and costs. The methods used to draw up these accounts are discussed, and there is also an analysis of Hoffmann’s national agricultural accounts. The estimates show that productivity in East-Elbian agriculture was growing rapidly in the period, and tending to converge on the German average. Productivity in southern Germany was not growing so fast. The reasons for this improvement east of the Elbe are examined using a Kreis-level data set. This shows that yield improvements were not limited to large farms and estates, but that smaller holdings also had access to new technology and improved husbandry methods. In short, East-Elbian agriculture should not be seen as backward or bound by tradition: it was a modern sector capable of rapid improvements in techniques and methods of production.

Date: 2002-08-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/economics/history/

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_047

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers from University of Oxford, Department of Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Anne Pouliquen ( this e-mail address is bad, please contact ).

 
Page updated 2025-04-18
Handle: RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_047