Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T19:39:18.101Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Diffusion of Tractor Technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2006

DINAH DUFFY MARTINI  and
EUGENE SILBERBERG
DINAH DUFFY MARTINI
Affiliation:
Completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington, Seattle.
EUGENE SILBERBERG
Affiliation:
Professor, Department of Economics, Box 353330, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3330.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A substantial literature exists claiming the adoption of tractors was inefficiently slow. We develop a linear programming model of farms that specifically incorporates the opportunity cost of the farmer's time and apply it to farms in Iowa during the interwar period. We develop technological coefficients derived at the task level, based on the data and agricultural reports from that period. By valuing the time saved by tractors, we demonstrate that the seemingly slow rate of tractor adoption was in fact wealth maximizing. Tractors were widely adopted only after the improvement in implements that came late in this period.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 66 , Issue 2 , June 2006 , pp. 354 - 389
Copyright
© 2006 The Economic History Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ankli Robert H. 1980 “Horses vs. Tractors in the Corn Belt,” Agricultural History 54, no. 1 134– 48.Google Scholar
Buck R. K., John A. Hopkins, and C. C. Malone. 1940 “Dairy and Hog Farming in Northeastern Iowa.” Agricultural Experiment Station Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Research Bulletin: 275. Ames, Iowa:
Chen H. Y., and A. C. Arny. 1941 “Crop Rotation Studies.” University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 149: 1– 6.Google Scholar
Clarke Sally. 1991 “New Deal Regulation and the Revolution in American Farm Productivity: A Case Study of the Diffusion of the Tractor in the Corn Belt, 1920–1940.” This Journal 51, no. 1 101– 23.Google Scholar
Cort M. J. 1919 “Creameries in Iowa.” Iowa Year Book of Agriculture, vol. 20. Des Moines, IA,
Davidson J. Brownlee, and William H. Carter. 1934 “Harvesting Alfalfa with a Windrow Pick-up Baler.” Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin, 322. Ames, IA:
Goodsell Wylie D. 1939 “Cost and Utilization of Power and Labor on Iowa Farms.” Iowa State College, Agricultural Experiment Station Research Bulletin 258. Ames, Iowa:
Griliches Zvi. 1957 “Hybrid Corn: An Exploration in the Economics of Technological change.” Econometrica 25, no. 4 501– 22.Google Scholar
Griliches Zvi, 1960 “Demand for a Durable Input: Farm Tractors in the U.S., 1921–57.” In Demand for Durable Goods, edited by Arnold C. Harberger, 181– 207. Chicago: University of Chicago,
Holmes C. L. 1922 “Wages of Farm Labor.” The University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 4. St. Paul,
Hopkins John A. 1929 “The Crop System in Iowa County.” Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin, 261. Ames, IA,
Hopkins John A. 1941 “Changes in Technology and Employment in Agriculture.” WPA National Research Project, Report No. A-9, Philadelphia,
Hopkins John A. Jr., Wylie D. Goodsell, and R. K. Buck. 1941 “An Economic Study of the Baby Beef Enterprise in Southern Iowa.” Agricultural Experiment Station Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Research Bulletin, 272, Ames, IA,
Iowa State Department of Agriculture. 1919–1940. 1919 “Iowa Year Book of Agriculture” vols. 20 through 41: 677. Des Moines: Iowa State Department of Agriculture,
Lew Byron. 2000 “The Diffusion of Tractors on the Canadian Prairies: The Threshold Model and the Problem of Uncertainty.” Explorations in Economic History 37, no. 2 189– 216.Google Scholar
Macy Loring K., Lloyd E. Arnold, and Eugene G. McKibben. 1938 Changes in Technology and Labor Requirements in Crop Production: Corn. Works Progress Administration, National Research Project, Report No. A-5, Philadelphia,
Manuelli Rodolfo E., and Ananth Seshadri. 2003 “Frictionless Technology Diffusion: The case of Tractors.” NBER Working Paper Series, 9604
McKibben Eugene G., and R. Austin Griffin. 1938 “Changes in Farm Power and Equipment: Tractors Trucks and Automobiles.” Report A-9: 110. Philadelphia,
McKibben Eugene G., John A. Hopkins, and R. Austin Griffin. 1939 Changes in Farm Power and Equipment: Field Implements. Works Project Administration, National Research Project. Report A-11, Philadelphia,
Olmstead Alan L., and Paul W. Rhode. 2001 “Reshaping the Landscape: The Impact and Diffusion of the Tractor in American Agriculture, 1910–1960.” This Journal 61, no. 3 663– 98.Google Scholar
Pond George A. 1926 “A Study of Dairy Farm Organization in Southeastern Minnesota.” Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 44. St. Paul,
Reynoldson L. A., W. R. Humphries, S. R. Speelman, E. W. McComas, and W. H. Youngman. 1933 “Utilization and Cost of Power on Corn Belt Farms.” USDA Technical Bulletin 384. Washington, DC: GPO,
Richey Frederick. 1935 The What and How of Hybrid Corn, USDA Farmer's Bulletin: 1744
Ryan Bruce, and Neal Gross, January 1950 “Acceptance and Diffusion of Hybrid Seed Corn in Two Iowa Communities.” Agricultural Experiment Station Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Research Bulletin, 372. Ames, IA:
Sallee George A., George A. Pond, and C. W. Crickman. 1939 “Farm Organization for Beef Cattle Production in Southwestern Minnesota.” University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station:138. St Paul,
Shaw Eldon E., and John A. Hopkins. 1939 “Trends in Employment, 1909–1936.” Works Project Administration, National Research Project. Report A-8, Philadelphia,
Shedd C. K., December 1940 “Machinery for Growing Corn.” USDA Circular No. 592, Washington, DC,
Silberberg Eugene, and Wing Suen. 2000 The Structure of Economics, 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill,
Thomas H. L., and John A. Hopkins. 1932 “Costs and Utilization of Corn in Seven Iowa Counties.” Agricultural Experiment Station Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts Bulletin, 289
Tolley H. R. and L. A. Reynoldson. December 1921 “The Cost and Utilization of Power on Farms Where Tractors Are Owned.” USDA Farmer's Bulletin 997, Washington, DC: GPO,
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 1957 Major Statistical Series of the U.S. Dept of Agriculture: How they are Constructed. Washington, DC: GPO,
Whatley Warren C. 1987 “Southern Agrarian Labor Contracts as Impediments it Cotton Mechanization.” This Journal 47, no. 1 45– 70.Google Scholar
White William J. III. 2000 “An Unsung Hero: The Farm Tractor's Contribution to Twentieth Century United States Economic Growth.” Ph.D. dissertation, the Ohio State University,
Williams Michael. 1985 Ford and Fordson Tractors. Poole, Dorset, England: Blandford Press,
Williams Robert C. 1987 Fordson, Farmall and Poppin' Johnny: A History of the Farm Tractor and Its Impact on America. Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1930 “Fifteenth Census of the United States, Agriculture.” Washington, DC: Department of Commerce,
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1941 “Sixteenth Census of the United States: Agriculture.” Washington, DC: Department of Commerce,
U.S. Bureau of the Census. 1960 Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to the Present. Washington, DC: GPO,