344/2017 Alexander Klein and Sheilagh Ogilvie

Do factor endowments explain serfdom? Domar (1970) conjectured that high land-labour ratios caused serfdom by increasing incentives to coerce labour. 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 analyse 11,349 Bohemian serf villages in 1757. The net effect of higher land-labour ratios was indeed to increase coercion. The effect greatly increased when animal labour was included, and diminished as land-labour ratios rose. Controlling for other variables, factor endowments significantly influenced serfdom. Institutions, we conclude, are shaped partly by economic fundamentals.

Economic History