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RESHAPING THE LANDSCAPE: THE IMPACT AND DIFFUSION OF THE TRACTOR IN AMERICAN AGRICULTURE, 1910–1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 May 2002

Alan L. Olmstead  and
Paul W. Rhode
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Abstract

This article analyzes the revolutionary impact the tractor had on rural America and examines the economic, technological, and institutional factors governing the machine's diffusion. Our simultaneous-equation regression model helps decipher the complex relationship between farm scale and diffusion. In addition, analyzing diffusion as a capital replacement problem reveals that the shift to the new technology was far more rapid than what has generally been thought and provides a new perspective on the long co-existence of both horses and tractors on farms.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , September 2001 , pp. 663 - 698
Copyright
© 2001 The Economic History Association

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