Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP10398
Authors: Andrei Markevich; Ekaterina Zhuravskaya
Abstract: We document substantial increases in agricultural productivity, industrial output and peasants? nutrition in Imperial Russia as a result of the abolition of serfdom in 1861. Before the emancipation, provinces where serfs constituted the majority of agricultural laborers lagged behind provinces that primarily relied on free labor. The emancipation led to a significant but partial catch up. Better incentives of peasants resulting from the cessation of ratchet effect were a likely mechanism behind a relatively fast positive effect of reform on agricultural productivity. The land reform, which instituted communal land tenure after the emancipation, diminished growth in productivity in repartition communes.
Keywords: development; forced labor; Russian Empire; serfdom
JEL Codes: J3; N23; P4
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Abolition of serfdom (N93) | Agricultural productivity (Q11) |
| Abolition of serfdom (N93) | Industrial output (L69) |
| Abolition of serfdom (N93) | Peasant nutrition (Q11) |
| Land reform (Q15) | Agricultural productivity (Q11) |
| Abolition of serfdom (N93) | Better incentives for peasants (P32) |
| Better incentives for peasants (P32) | Agricultural productivity (Q11) |