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The Economic Effects of the English Parliamentary Enclosures

Author

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  • Leander Heldring
  • James A. Robinson
  • Sebastian Vollmer

Abstract

We use a dataset of the entire population of English Parliamentary enclosure acts between 1750 and 1830 to provide the first evidence of their impact. Parliamentary enclosure led to the systematic rationalization of traditional property rights. Exploiting a feature of the Parliamentary process that produced such legislation as a source of exogenous variation, we show that such enclosures were associated with significantly higher crop yields, but also higher land inequality. Our results are in line with a literature going back to Arthur Young and Karl Marx on the effects of Parliamentary enclosure on productivity and inequality. They do not support the argument that informal systems of governance, even in small, cohesive, and stable communities, were able to efficiently allocate commonly used and governed resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Leander Heldring & James A. Robinson & Sebastian Vollmer, 2022. "The Economic Effects of the English Parliamentary Enclosures," NBER Working Papers 29772, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:29772
    Note: DAE POL
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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Heblich & David Krisztián Nagy & Alex Trew & Yanos Zylberberg, 2023. "The death and life of great British cities," Economics Working Papers 1867, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • N5 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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