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049 $aUWOO
050 00 $aHD1943$b.H64 1996
082 00 $a338.1/0944$220
099 $aHD1943.H64 1996
099 $aHD1943.H64 1996
100 1 $aHoffman, Philip T.,$d1947-
245 10 $aGrowth in a traditional society :$bthe French
countryside, 1450-1815 /$cPhilip T. Hoffman.
260 $aPrinceton, N.J. :$bPrinceton University
Press,$cc1996.
300 $axiv, 361 p. :$bill. ;$c24 cm.
440 0 $aPrinceton economic history of the Western world.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p.
[345]-353) and index.
520 $aMaking a strong case for the use of economic
analysis in studying history and culture, Philip Hoffman
shatters the widespread myth that traditional agricultural
societies in early modern Europe were socially and
economically stagnant - and ultimately depended on
wide-scale political revolution for their growth. Through a
richly detailed historical investigation of the peasant
agriculture of ancien-regime France, the author uncovers
evidence that requires a new understanding of what
constituted economic growth in such societies. His arguments
rest on a measurement of long-term growth that enables him
to analyze the economic, institutional, and political
factors that explain its forms and rhythms. In comparing
France with England and Germany, Hoffman arrives at fresh
answers to some classic questions: Did French agriculture
lag behind farming in other countries? If so, did the
obstacles in French agriculture lurk within peasant society
itself, in the peasants' culture, in their communal property
rights, or in the small scale of their farms? Or did the
obstacles hide elsewhere, in politics, in the tax system, or
in meager opportunities for trade? The author discovers that
growth cannot be explained by culture, property rights, or
farm size, and argues that the real causes of growth derived
from politics and gains from trade. By challenging other
widely held beliefs, such as the nature of the commons and
the workings of the rural economy, Hoffman offers a new
analysis of peasant society and culture, one based on
microeconomics and game theory and intended for a wide range
of social scientists.
650 0 $aAgriculture$xEconomic aspects$zFrance$xHistory.
650 0 $aAgricultural productivity$zFrance$xHistory.
651 0 $aFrance$xEconomic conditions.
651 0 $aFrance$xRural conditions.
970 01 $tList of Illustrations
970 01 $tList of Tables
970 01 $tAcknowledgments
970 01 $tList of Abbreviations
970 01 $tIntroduction$p3
970 11 $lCh. 1$tPeasants, Historians, and Economic
Growth$p12
970 11 $lCh. 2$tCommon Rights and the Village
Community$p21
970 11 $lCh. 3$tLabor Markets, Rental Markets, and Credit
in the Local Economy$p35
970 11 $lCh. 4$tAgricultural Productivity in France,
1450-1789$p81
970 11 $lCh. 5$tExplaining Productivity in a Traditional
Economy$p143
970 01 $lCh. 6$tConclusion$p193
970 11 $tAppendix A: The Methods and Sources Used with the
Notre Dame Sample$p206
970 11 $tAppendix B: Measuring TFP with Other Samples of
Leases$p238
970 11 $tAppendix C: The Economics of Urban
Fertilizer$p266
970 11 $tAppendix D: Hedonic Wage Regressions$p268
970 01 $tNotes$p273
970 01 $tSources and Bibliography$p345
970 01 $tIndex$p355
