IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/jechis/v62y2002i01p170-188_04.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

State-Directed Diffusion Of Technology: The Mechanization Of Cotton Harvesting In Soviet Central Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Pomfret, Richard

Abstract

When Soviet central planners began to mechanize the cotton harvest in earnest in 1958, they expected more rapid diffusion than the market-driven process that had begun in the United States a decade earlier. But despite high output of cotton-picking machines, the share of the crop harvested mechanically grew more slowly than in the United States. The factor proportions in Central Asia did not justify mechanization: although planners could enforce introduction of the new technology, investment in cotton-harvesting machines was largely a waste of resources. The costs of premature introduction are estimated at over $1 billion in 1960s prices.

Suggested Citation

  • Pomfret, Richard, 2002. "State-Directed Diffusion Of Technology: The Mechanization Of Cotton Harvesting In Soviet Central Asia," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 170-188, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:62:y:2002:i:01:p:170-188_04
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022050702044078/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. White Kristopher D., 2013. "A geographical perspective on the Aral Sea crisis: three interpretations of an image," Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, Sciendo, vol. 21(21), pages 125-132, September.
    2. Pomfret, Richard, 2007. "Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Kazakhstan," Agricultural Distortions Working Paper Series 48360, World Bank.
    3. James Fenske, 2014. "The battle for rubber in Benin," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(4), pages 1012-1034, November.
    4. Chatalova, Lioudmila & Djanibekov, Nodir & Gagalyuk, Taras & Valentinov, Vladislav, 2017. "The paradox of water management projects in Central Asia: An institutionalist perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14.
    5. Cernat, Lucian & Onguglo, Bonapas, 2008. "RTAs and WTO Compatibility: Catch Me If You Can? The Case of EPA Negotiations," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 23, pages 489-517.
    6. Evans, David & Gasiorek, Michael & Robinson, Sherman, 2007. "A Comparative Analysis of Shallow and Deep Integration of China and India into the Global Economy: A Research Agenda and First Application of the Disaggregated "Tapes" Partial Equilibrium Mo," Conference papers 331639, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    7. Rajag M. Nag & Johannes F. Linn & Harinder S. Kohli (ed.), 2016. "Central Asia 2050: Unleashing the Region's Potential," Books, Emerging Markets Forum, edition 1, number centasia2050, November.
    8. James Fenske, 2014. "The battle for rubber in Benin," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 67(4), pages 1012-1034, November.
    9. Richard Pomfret, 2016. "Modernizing Agriculture in Central Asia," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 8(2), pages 104-125, May.
    10. Muller, Malte & Rommel, Jens, 2018. "Should I Stay or Should I Go? A Behavioral Approach to Organizational Choice in Tajikistan’s Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 43(3), September.
    11. Zsuzsa Ludvig (ed.), 2013. "EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES NO. 4 - Eurasian challenges - Partnerships with Russia and other issues of the Post-Soviet era," East European Studies, Institute for World Economics - Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, number 2013.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:62:y:2002:i:01:p:170-188_04. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/jeh .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.