Andrea Matranga Presented the Report on a research seminar on political economy

On September 13 a research seminar on political economy took place at HSE. Andrea Matranga  (New Economics School)  spoke on 'All Along the Watchtower: Linear Defenses and the Introduction of Serfdom in Russia'.

Abstract:

Why did Russia enserf its previously free peasants, while the rest of Europe freed its serfs? Domar argued that Russia's low population density would have resulted in a high equilibrium wage, and therefore created the incentives for the nobility to restrict labor mobility, so as to appropriate the agricultural serfdom. However, while this explains the cross-sectional pattern, it cannot explain why serfdom was not reintroduced in the west after the Black Death. In this paper I propose a new theory, by arguing that serfdom was necessary to ensure that the defense cordon against the Tatar slave raids from the south could be effectively manned. In support of my theory I demonstrate a geographic association between serfdom and the sequence of linear defenses employed. I also deploy spatial methods to calculate the optimal invasion routes for Tatars, as well as the optimal defense lines to block the raids. I find that modern patterns of development are significantly correlated with calculated defense lines towards the South, where nomadic raids made the cordon defense necessary, but not towards theWest, where invaders had extensive logistical tails and could be effectively parried by blocking only the major roads.