English agrarian labor productivity rates before the Black Death: A case study

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Western University (University of Western Ontario)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050704002591
• 发表日期: 2004
• 页码: 24-60
• 关键词: medieval england; farm size; specialization; mechanization; agriculture; GROWTH

摘要

It is often suggested that an agricultural revolution, currently defined as a rise in the output of arable workers, was a necessary precursor to industrialization and improved living standards. This article provides the first direct measurement of arable workers' average labor productivity for pre-industrial England. Rates are assessed for those production conditions that it is thought resulted in the lowest agrarian labor productivity rates in the pre-industrial period: c. 1300-1348. The rates for English workers before the Black Death either surpassed or met the literature's best estimates for English workers until 1800, well after industrialization was underway.