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Departing from research on Westphalian leases between 1600 and 1900 the paper discusses the lease market of and price determination on three Westphalian estates. While economic history approaches suppose that leases can be seen as market relations and are therefore useful indicators to measure agricultural productivity, a more anthropological perspective emphasises the social relations between lessor (here: noble estate owner) and leaseholders. The choice of an adequate perspective has significant implications for research on agricultural productivity based on rents and leases. Our results indicate that the contractual arrangement of leasehold (well defined duration, announcement, auctions) was used to achieve the highest possible leases. However, at least until the 1830s, demand for leasehold land was rather low and leaseholders could benefit from a lack of competition. Price determination of leases resulted in rents below the Ricardian rent. Therefore, we argue that important assumptions of the established price approach, which uses leases as proxies for productivity, are not met and the analysis of agricultural productivity requires additional evidence on the leaseholder’s income and profit.

Departing from research on Westphalian leases between 1600 and 1900 the paper discusses the lease market of and price determination on three Westphalian estates. While economic history approaches suppose that leases can be seen as market relations and are therefore useful indicators to measure agricultural productivity, a more anthropological perspective emphasises the social relations between lessor (here: noble estate owner) and leaseholders. The choice of an adequate perspective has significant implications for research on agricultural productivity based on rents and leases. Our results indicate that the contractual arrangement of leasehold (well defined duration, announcement, auctions) was used to achieve the highest possible leases. However, at least until the 1830s, demand for leasehold land was rather low and leaseholders could benefit from a lack of competition. Price determination of leases resulted in rents below the Ricardian rent. Therefore, we argue that important assumptions of the established price approach, which uses leases as proxies for productivity, are not met and the analysis of agricultural productivity requires additional evidence on the leaseholder's income and profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors comment on agricultural production and market decisions in Germany. Within German-speaking agricultural history, quantifying approaches are the exception rather than the rule. This has to do with the cultural-historical reorientation of historical science, which in contrast to social history encounters statistical methods primarily in a critical-deconstructive way.

This article reviews volume XXVI, number 1, of the journal "Histoire et mesure," which focuses on agricultural crises.

The article reports on a conference on the history of agricultural techniques and knowledge, held in Essen, Germany, from June 14-15, 2013. Topics of discussion included the dissemination of agronomic knowledge among tobacco farmers in late 18th- and early 19th-century Alsace, France, agricultural policy in Zimbabwe since the country's independence in 1980, and the gender division of labor in German agriculture and its effect on gender differences in attitudes toward technological innovations before World War I.

The article presents information about a conference held in Frankfurt am Main, Germany on July 2, 2010. Topics under discussion at the conference centered on aspects of rural Jewish life between the Middle Ages and the 20th century. Presentations were given by international scholars including Rainer Barzen, Torben Stretz, and Stefanie Fischer.

The article presents information about a conference held in Münster, Germany on September 11, 2009. Topics under discussion at the conference included the history of savings accounts, behavioral aspects of savings culture, and comparative savings practices in China, the U.S., and Europe. Presentations were given by international historians Ansgar Belke, Sheldon Garon, and Hans-Georg Ebert.

The article reports on the June 2008 congress and General Assembly of the Working Group for Agricultural History (AKA) held in Essen, Germany. The theme of the meeting was "Leadership Communication in the Rural World of the Modern Era," focused on means of communication between rural inhabitants and authorities in the 19th century and early modern era.