Scania - an institutional success story

Differences in production were of course due to farm size and natural conditions. Large farms produced more than small farms and farms in the plains produced more than farms situated in more forested areas of the region. However, it is when we control for these factors that we reveal the most interesting differences in production achievements. First, property rights mattered; freeholders produced more per area unit than tenants on Crown and noble land. Secure property rights among self-owners together with rising prices and fixed taxes promoted investments in crop production. For those peasants that were tenants under the nobility, rising rents and the threat of eviction prevented such immense investments.

Explaining agricultural growth. The case of Sweden 1700-1850.*

Mats Olsson and Patrick Svensson
Dept. of Economic History
Lund University

presented at the Social Science History Association conference, Miami23–26 October 2008, Session: Time and the Nature of Agrarian Change.