Number, Size and Energy Consumption of Draught Animals in European Agriculture

Working Paper, March 2009

by Astrid Kander (University of Lund)

and Paul Warde University of East Anglia)

This paper provides information on the number of draught animals of various kinds that were used in agriculture in Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the sources and assumptions we have used in making our estimates. Tables provide animal numbers in thousands for each country at benchmark dates.

The aim of the paper is to provide a methodological approach to assessing the availability of draught power over time, and an explanation of how the available statistical information from various European countries can be employed to this end. This paper will be linked to a more detailed analysis of the role of draught power in raising agricultural output and factor productivity in European agriculture in the period 1800-1914.

Download the working paper: MS Word | PDF

We would like to acknowledge the essential assistance provided in collecting the data, and good advice, of Ben Gales, Sofia Enriques, Paolo Malanima, and Mar Rubio.

 

 

 


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