The Stolypin reform and agricultural productivity in late imperial Russia

We study the effect of changes in land tenure, launched by the 1906 Stolypin reform, on agricultural productivity in Imperial Russia. The reform allowed peasants to obtain individual land titles and consolidate separated land strips into a single privatized allotment. We present evidence that land consolidations enabled peasants to make independent production decisions from the village commune and take advantage of readily accessible technological advancements. In contrast, land titles decreased land productivity in the short-run, but the overall effect of the reform on land productivity was still positive.