[MR] Efficiency in the Domesday economy, 1086: Evidence from Wiltshire estates

[David Chessler]

http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0003-6846&volume=42&issue=25&spage=3231
Efficiency in the Domesday economy, 1086: Evidence from Wiltshire estates

John McDonald
Applied Economics, October 2010, Pages 3231-3240

Abstract:
It may surprise some readers that frontier methods such as Data Envelopment
Analysis (DEA) can be used to assess the productive efficiency of the estates
of eleventh century England. This is possible because in 1086, William the
Conqueror carried out a comprehensive survey (the Domesday Survey) of lands he
invaded 20 years earlier. The survey provides high-quality data on the inputs
and outputs of most manors in England. A previous analysis of the data for
Essex estates indicated that the average efficiency of the Domesday
agricultural economy was comparable to, if not higher than that for more
modern economies, that some tenants-in-chief displayed significantly more
entrepreneurial flair than others, and that the geographical location, the
size of the estate and the arable/livestock mix all significantly affected
estate efficiency. In this article, analysis of a second Domesday county,
Wiltshire, confirms the general results for Essex, but indicates some
differences in the factors affecting estate efficiency.

By KEVIN LEWIS | 09:00:00 AM
http://www.nationalaffairs.com/authors/detail/kevin-lewis
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