THE TITHE COMMUTATION ACT OF 1836: MEASURING THE EFFICIENCY GAINS OF AGRICULTURAL LAND TAX REFORMS IN ENGLAND 1842-1855 (original) (raw)
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The efficiency gains from site value taxes: the Tithe Commutation Act of 1836
Explorations in Economic History, 2005
The theoretical efficiency advantages of land site value taxation have been known since at least the writings of Adam Smith. However, the practical gains from switching land taxes to this basis have never, to our knowledge, been measured. The Tithe Commutation Act of 1836 in England switched taxation of large areas of farmland from a percentage of gross output to an equivalent lump sum tax on site values. We estimate the rent gains from this reform between 1842 and 1855 using data from 5108 English parishes. We show that converting the tithe to a lump sum raised rents, net of the tithe, by an average of £0.43 for every £1 of tithe collected. Some of these rent gains may have stemmed from increased investment by landlords in fixed capital rented with the land, so that we can only give a range for the possible excess burden of the tithe of 17-43%. Interestingly with a Cobb-Douglass production function the predicted excess burden would be 17%.
Anglican Clergymen and the Tithe Question in the Early Nineteenth Century
Journal of Religious History, 1980
has references to the relevant literature. Although I have dissented from Professor Evans's conclusions, it is incumbent on me to add that I have learned much from his volume. The.present article is part of a longer study of Anglican cler~meneconomist~. The asserhons made m the next paragraphs are justified in detail m my unpubhshed survey 'Anglican clergymeneconomists 1750-1850'. It is possible that, having studied them so long, I have come to identify partially with their cause. Salim Rashid is in the Department of Economics, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire. 2. Very little is known of the life of the Rev. Edward Edwards. Accounts of Howlett, Jones, and Whately may be found in the Dictionary of National Biography. Howlett's contribution to this debate was An Enquiry concerning rhe Influence of Tithes upon Agriculture . . ., London 1801. There is an able review of it in the British Critic, 1802, pp. 454-69. Edwards contributed an article to each of the Quarterly Review, 1823, pp. 524-60 and Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, 1830, pp. 213-81, and wrote a pamphlet, The Revenues of the Church of England not a burden upon the public, London 1830. Edwards reviewed his own pamphlet in Blackwood's. In correspondence .with William Blackwood (National Library of Scotland, Blackwood Mss) Edwards cIrumed that Bishop Blomfield of London had urged him to publish. Whately's views upon Titpes are contained in his evidence before the House of Lords, reprinted in the 2nd edihon of his Zntroducfory Lectures, London 1832.
Land rental values and the agrarian economy: England and Wales, 1500-1914
European Review of Economic History, 2002
I use the rents and prices of land held by charities in England and Wales to estimate statistically the nominal and real rental value of farmland from 1500 to 1912. Real land rental values increased fourfold between 1500 and 1912. Combining these estimates with farm wages and rates of return I calculate agricultural output from factor payments, as well as output per worker, from 1500 to 1912. Finally the productivity of agriculture is calculated. These new series suggest that measured agricultural productivity doubled between 1500-39 and 1860-69. But the productivity growth was fairly evenly spread over this long period, and was much less in the years 1760 to 1860 than standard accounts of the Industrial Revolution such as Crafts (1985) assume. Thus these estimates imply a substantial reduction in estimates of output growth in England in the Industrial Revolution era. Further the rate of productivity growth in England in the years 1500-1789 is no greater than the growth rates Philip Hoffman finds for the Paris Basin. Finally, contrary to expectation, the source of productivity growth before 1869 is overwhelmingly growing yields as opposed to growth of labor productivity.
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This article explores how territorial conquest and consolidation of Muslim-ruled lands in the medieval Iberian Peninsula influenced the restoration and growth of frontier episcopal sees through an analysis of tithing. In comparing two neighbouring dioceses in the Crown of Aragon, Tortosa and Lleida, restored following the same mid-twelfth-century expedition with similar privileges yet differing frontier conditions, the study finds that the ability of dioceses to develop parishes and impose episcopal privileges was limited by conditions on the frontier which in turn conditioned the course and progress of seigniorial and royal territorial consolidation. In the wake of conquest, bishops in both Tortosa and Lleida often negotiated with lay lords who seized tithes on their lands in order to found and foster parishes. As the dioceses succeeded in developing their lands and the border with Islam was pushed further afield, willingness to compromise on tithe collection and permit lay retention of episcopal and parish revenues accordingly faded away. While bishoprics on the Iberian frontier did face