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Historical and Institutional Perspectives on American Agricultural Development

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  • Alan L. Olmstead

Abstract

Biological innovations played a far more important role in American agricultural development than previously thought. These innovations were essential in allowing farmers to combat pests and diseases, to move the agricultural production into new environments, and to increase farm productivity. Many biological advances, especially those aimed at fighting contagious animal diseases, required unprecedented federal government interventions to overcome the free‐rider problem and to transfer new knowledge into effective public policy. Early USDA animal disease programs significantly increased productivity and trade in the livestock sector and prevented hundreds of thousands of untimely deaths in the United States from food‐borne illnesses by 1940.

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  • Alan L. Olmstead, 2020. "Historical and Institutional Perspectives on American Agricultural Development," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 400-418, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ajagec:v:102:y:2020:i:2:p:400-418
    DOI: 10.1002/ajae.12026
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2001. "Reshaping The Landscape: The Impact And Diffusion Of The Tractor In American Agriculture, 1910–1960," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 61(3), pages 663-698, September.
    2. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2004. "An Impossible Undertaking: The Eradication of Bovine Tuberculosis in the United States," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(3), pages 734-772, September.
    3. Alan L. Olmstead & Paul W. Rhode, 2002. "The Red Queen and the Hard Reds: Productivity Growth in American Wheat, 1800-1940," NBER Working Papers 8863, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Rob Fraser, 2015. "Arresting Contagion: Science, Policy, and Conflicts over Animal Disease Control," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(3), pages 843-845, September.
    5. Lange, Fabian & Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2009. "The Impact of the Boll Weevil, 1892–1932," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 69(3), pages 685-718, September.
    6. Binswanger, Hans, 1986. "Agricultural Mechanization: A Comparative Historical Perspective," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 1(1), pages 27-56, January.
    7. Alan L. Olmstead & Paul W. Rhode, 2012. "The Eradication of Bovine Tuberculosis in the United States in a Comparative Perspective," Natural Resource Management and Policy, in: David Zilberman & Joachim Otte & David Roland-Holst & Dirk Pfeiffer (ed.), Health and Animal Agriculture in Developing Countries, edition 1, chapter 0, pages 7-30, Springer.
    8. Olmstead, Alan L & Rhode, Paul, 1993. "Induced Innovation in American Agriculture: A Reconsideration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(1), pages 100-118, February.
    9. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2002. "The Red Queen and the Hard Reds: Productivity Growth in American Wheat, 1800–1940," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(4), pages 929-966, December.
    10. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2008. "Biological Innovation and Productivity Growth in the Antebellum Cotton Economy," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 68(4), pages 1123-1171, December.
    11. Rasmussen, Wayne D., 1962. "The Impact of Technological Change on American Agriculture, 1862–1962," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 578-591, December.
    12. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2007. "Not on My Farm! Resistance to Bovine Tuberculosis Eradication in the United States," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 67(3), pages 768-809, September.
    13. Rhode, Paul W., 1995. "Learning, Capital Accumulation, and the Transformation of California Agriculture," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(4), pages 773-800, December.
    14. Olmstead, Alan L. & Rhode, Paul W., 2003. "Hog-Round Marketing, Seed Quality, and Government Policy: Institutional Change in U.S. Cotton Production, 1920–1960," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 63(2), pages 447-488, June.
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