agricultural productivity and european industrialization, 1890-1980, o'brien (1992)

(514): ag. is important because successful early industrialization has been closely associated with improvements in productivity in land

(515-526): extensive discussion of measurement techniques

(526): disputing Bairoch's argument that protectionism in late 19th C. helped European Ec. (it depends on correlations), but no evidence for counter-argument offered

(529-530): key--no Eu economy had gone as far as Britain in 'freeing up' a labour force for industrialization, which was a function of the lower level of productivity (per worker) in agriculture. productivity per hectare was of course not the issue; UK hardly topped, on that count.

(531): US, also, was very impressive

(534): in claim that Medit. economies remain behind, hinting at 'ecological' explanation of backwardness