Suchergebnisse

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

Neo-Bohemia brings the study of bohemian culture down to the street level, while maintaining a commitment to understanding broader historical and economic urban contexts. Simultaneously readable and academic, this book anticipates key urban trends at the dawn of the twenty-first century, shedding light on both the nature of contemporary bohemias and the cities that house them. The relevance of understanding the trends it depicts has only increased, especially in light of the current urban crisis puncturing a long period of gentrification and new economy development, putting us on the precipice, perhaps, of the next new bohemia.