Beyond backwardness: Sharecropping as an institution of agrarian colonization in Mediterranean Europe. New evidence from Val di Chiana (Tuscany, 19th–20th Centuries)

Abstract

Economic literature has long interpreted sharecropping as a feudal relic and a barrier to agrarian development. Alternative readings, however, have examined its role in risk sharing, the equitable allocation of inputs for efficient management and factors affecting productivity. This article tests the hypothesis that sharecropping represented an institution and a tool of agrarian colonization, particularly following major land reclamation projects. The focus is on a productive central area of Italy, the Val di Chiana in southern Tuscany (19th–20th). The analysis is based on the processing of data derived from archive and national statistical sources, and the methodology combines spatial and productivity analysis (farm and territorial scale). The results indicate that Tuscan sharecropping was able to promote ‘specific’ processes of reorganization and development of agriculture.