A Study on the Farm Household Behavior in Prewar Japan

本研究旨在厘清战前日本农户的行为。我们特别关注了三个研究问题：(1)大萧条时期农户的应对行为；(2)大萧条对农户管理效率的影响；(3)1930年代农户的债务状况。我们的结果表明：(I)农户减少投入以应对大萧条造成的特殊冲击；(Ii)农户的剩余劳动力可能导致整体或技术效率的下降；(Iii)1930年代的日本小农可能处于信贷约束之下。

The purpose of this study is to clarify the behavior of farm households in prewar Japan. We focused on three research issues in particular:(1) the coping behavior of farm households in response to the Great Depression;(2) the effects of the depression on the managerial efficiencies of farm households;(3) the status of farmers’ debts in the 1930s.Our results indicate that (i) farm households reduced inputs to cope with idiosyncratic shocks caused by the Great Depression;(ii) surplus labor in farm households may have led to a decrease in the overall or technical efficiency;(iii) small farmers could be under credit constraints in 1930s Japan.