Growth in a Traditional Society: The French Countryside, 1450-1815

377 Pages·1996·41.291 MB·English

by  Philip Hoffman

Growth in a Traditional Society
THE PRINCETON
ECONOMIC HISTORY
OF THE WESTERN WORLD
Joel Mokyr, Editor
Growth in a Traditional Society: The French Countryside,
1450-1815 by Philip T. Hoffman (1996)
The Vanishing Irish: Households, Migration, and the Rural Economy
in Ireland, 1850-1914, by Timothy W. Guinnane
Black '47 and Beyond: The Great Irish Famine in History,
Economy, and Memory, by Cormac Ó Gráda
The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the
Modern World Economy, by Kenneth Pomeranz
Growth in a Traditional Society
THE FRENCH COUNTRYSIDE,
1450-1815
Philip T. Hoffman
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
Copyright © 1996 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved.
Second printing, and first paperback printing, 2000
Paperback ISBN 0691-07008-3
The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows
Hoffman, Philip T., 1947-
Growth in a traditional society : the French countryside,
1450-1815 / Philip T. Hoffman.
p. cm. — (The Princeton economic history of the Western world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-691-02983-0 (cl : alk. paper)
1. Agriculture—Economic aspects—France—History. 2. France—
Economic conditions. 3. France—Rural conditions. 4. Agricultural
productivity—France—History. I. Title. II. Series.
HD1943.H64 1996 95-31936
338.1,0944—dc20
This book has been composed in Times Roman
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (R1997)
(Permanence of Paper)
Printed in the United States of America
www.pup.princeton.edu
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
List of Tables xi
Acknowledgments xiii
List of Abbreviations xv
INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER ONE
Peasants, Historians, and Economic Growth 12
CHAPTER TWO
Common Rights and the Village Community 21
CHAPTER THREE
Labor Markets, Rental Markets, and Credit in the
Local Economy 35
Rural Labor Markets 41
The Rental Market 49
Credit and Reputation in the Local Economy 69
CHAPTER FOUR
Agricultural Productivity in France, 1450-1789 81
Using Leases and Prices to Measure Productivity 82
Calculating TFP: The Example of the Paris Basin 88
Productivity Trends Elsewhere in France 107
Judging French Agricultural Growth 132
CHAPTER FIVE
Explaining Productivity in a Traditional Economy 143
Explaining Productivity Growth in the Paris Basin 145
Assessing the Role of Large Enclosed Farms 151
Cities, Markets, and the Pattern of TFP Growth 170
The Transformation of the Countryside: Myth
and Reality 184
CHAPTER SIX
Conclusion 193
vi · Contents
APPENDIX A
The Methods and Sources Used with the Notre Dame Sample 206
1. Treatment of Leases 206
2. Distance as a Proxy for the Cost of Transportation
to Paris 208
3. Quality Adjustments and Rent Averages 209
4. The Comparison with the Veyrassat-Herren and Le Roy
Ladurie Rent Series 210
5. Formulas for TFP and Technical Assumptions 211
6. Product and Factor Shares and the Rental Price of
Agricultural Capital 214
7. Wages in Paris and the Surrounding Countryside 220
8. Grain Prices and In-Kind Payments 223
9. Setting the Rent, Prices in the Indexes Ρ and C, and
Alternative Price Averages 224
10. Entrepreneurial Profits 225
11. A Comparison of Our Productivity Index and the
Tornqvist-Translog Index 228
12. Averaging TFP 230
13. Treatment of Taxes 231
14. Sources 234
APPENDIX Β
Measuring TFP with Other Samples of Leases 238
1. Calculating TFP When Shares Change and Comparing
Productivity Levels 238
2. TFP Calculations, Tax Corrections, and Sources for the
Properties Outside of the Paris Basin 239
Farms in the Orléanais and Near Amiens 239
Lorraine 240
Normandy (Bretteville-l' Orgueilleuse, Cheux, Rots,
Pays de Caux, Auge) 242
The West 248
The Southeast: Bouches-du-Rhone and Vaucluse 254
Albigeois 256
Southeastern Languedoc 257
Salers 259
Beaujolais 260
German North Sea Coast 261
Comparison of the Paris Basin and England 262
3. Controlling for Property Differences by Measuring Rents
Relative to a Common Base Period 264
APPENDIX C
The Economics of Urban Fertilizer
APPENDIX D
Hedonic Wage Regressions
Notes
Sources and Bibliography
Index

Illustrations
FIGURES
3.1 Abbé Rozier's Model Farm 42
3.2 Location of Properties in the Notre Dame Sample 55
3.3 Change in Ln(Population) and Ln(Rent): Paris Region, 60
1720s to 1780s
4.1 Nominal Rent Indices for Notre Dame Sample and for 92
Le Roy Ladurie Leases
4.2 Notre Dame Sample Ln(TFP): Tax Adjustment and 99
Alternative Prices and Shares
4.3 Sites of Other TFP Calculations in France 112
4.4 Ln(TFP) by Decade near Amiens: Thirty-four Farms 113
4.5 Ln(TFP) on Gagnages in Lorraine 116
4.6 Ln(TFP) in Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse: Open and Partially 117
Enclosed Plots
4.7A Ln(TFP) in the West: Twenty-five-Year Averages for 122
Selected Sites
4.7B Ln(TFP) in the West: Decennial Averages for Selected Sites 122
4.8 Ln(TFP) on the Farm of Chavais: Arable Shares versus 124
Western Shares
4.9 Ln(TFP) on the Métairie of La Chapelle-aux-Moines near 125
Nantes: With and without Vineyard
4.10A Ln(TFP) in Provence: The Grange de la Sacristie near 126
Avignon
4.10B Ln(TFP) in Provence: Grillon and Rosenthal's Unirrigated 126
Samples
4.11 Ln(TFP) near Béziers in Languedoc: Twenty-five-Year 128
Averages for Six Farms
4.12 Ln(TFP in the Paris Basin/TFP in Bretteville) 139
5.1 Change of Ln(TFP) versus Change of Ln(Tax Assessment), 148
1740-41 to 1783-89
χ · Illustrations
5.2 François de Cairon's Clos de la Perrelle in Bretteville- 153
l'Orgueilleuse, 1666-67
5.3 François de Cairon's Large Block in the Delie des Grands 154
Champs, 1666-67
5.4 Growth Rates of TFP and of Urban Population: Nantes, 173
Rennes, Le Mans, Anjou, Avignon
5.5 TFP Growth versus Population Growth in the Largest 174
City within 45 Kilometers, 1700-90
5.6 The Population of Paris and the Standard Deviation of the 175
TFP Growth Rate in the Paris Basin
A.1 Alternative Averages of Ln(Rent): Notre Dame Sample 210
A.2 Indices of Rural Births and of the Rent/Wage Ratio 219
A.3 Alternative Growth Rates of TFP for the Notre Dame Sample: 220
Tax Adjustment and Alternative Prices and Shares
A. 4 Alternative Averages of Ln(TFP): Notre Dame Sample 231
Β. 1 Ln(TFP) in the Ille-et-Vilaine: Twelve Farms 253
B. 2 Ln(TFP) near Nantes: Three Farms in Vallet 253
C. 1 The Trade-off between Farm Livestock and Urban Manure 267
in the Paris Basin