On the Profitability of Russian Serfdom
检验了俄国马克思主义者关于1861年农奴解放前农奴制对农奴主已无利可图的论点，通过构建四个理论模型并估计农奴价格，发现除立陶宛外，理论和实证结果均不支持该假设。
The paper examines the thesis, popular among Russian Marxists, that Russian serfdom had become unprofitable for the serfowners before the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Four theoretical models are constructed in order to determine the effects on serfdom of population growth, rise in grain prices, certain restrictions on the serfs' labor obligations, and the replacement of labor services with money payments. Prices of serfs for the several regions and provinces are estimated by regression.With the exception of Lithuania, neither the theoretical nor the empirical results confirm the Marxist hypothesis.