Boberg-Fazlic, Nina, Lampe, Markus, Martinelli Lasheras, Pablo, Sharp, Paul. 2020. Winners and Losers from Enclosure: Evidence from Danish Land Inequality 1682-1895. CEPR Discussion Paper 14616; EHES Working Paper 178.
BibTeX
Abstract
There is a vast literature on the effects of land inequality and agrarian reforms, but little on the origins of this inequality. We exploit a new and unique parish-level database of land inequality in Denmark, from 1682 to 1895, during which period there was comprehensive land reform and enclosure. We demonstrate that inequality increased after land reform in areas with more productive land, measured using contemporary tax assessments. We instrument for land quality using glacial and postglacial sediment soil types. We propose a mechanism whereby agrarian reforms allowed areas with better soil quality to realize greater productivity gains. Malthusian mechanisms and internal migration then led to greater population increases in more fertile areas, leading to a larger share of smallholders and landless laborers. We present evidence for this mechanism in part from population density revealed by censuses. After the reforms, the geographical pattern of inequality remained strikingly constant, although population and inequality continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century.
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Status of publication | Published |
---|---|
Affiliation | WU |
Type of publication | Working/discussion paper, preprint |
Language | English |
Title | Winners and Losers from Enclosure: Evidence from Danish Land Inequality 1682-1895 |
Title of whole publication | CEPR Discussion Paper 14616; EHES Working Paper 178 |
Year | 2020 |
URL | https://portal.cepr.org/discussion-paper/16225 |
JEL | O13, N53, Q15 |
Associations
- People
- Lampe, Markus (Details)
- External
- Boberg-Fazlic, Nina (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
- Martinelli Lasheras, Pablo (Universidad Carlos III Madrid, Spain)
- Sharp, Paul (University of Southern Denmark, Denmark)
- Organization
- Institute for Economic and Social History IN (Details)
- Research Institute for Spatial and Real Estate Economics FI (Details)
- Research areas (Ă–STAT Classification 'Statistik Austria')
- 5300 Economics (Details)
- 5340 Economic history (Details)
- 6521 Economic history (Details)