MANORIAL EFFICIENCY IN DOMESDAY ENGLAND

Domesday Book reports the results of a survey of most English manors i n 1086. The survey was based on responses to questionnaires, which wer e then publicly verified in local courts, and contains information on manorial net incomes and resources. In the paper, mathematical program ming frontier methods are used to investigate the production efficienc y of Essex lay estates, discover which estates were efficient, which t enants-in-chief held efficient estates, and the factors associated wit h efficiency.