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Poverty and the Distribution of Land
Author(s) -
Griffin Keith,
Khan Azizur Rahman,
Ickowitz Amy
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of agrarian change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.63
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1471-0366
pISSN - 1471-0358
DOI - 10.1111/1471-0366.00036
Subject(s) - redistribution (election) , economics , confiscation , land tenure , china , land reform , distribution (mathematics) , latin americans , landlord , poverty , context (archaeology) , development economics , economic system , market economy , geography , economic growth , political science , law , agriculture , mathematical analysis , mathematics , archaeology , politics
Redistributive land reforms have begun to attract the attention of scholars and policy makers once again. In this paper, we review old arguments and bring them up‐to‐date in the light of recent research. We begin with the case in favour of redistributive reforms focusing on fragmented factor markets and systems of labour control, of which concentration of land ownership is but one aspect. We then examine land reform in practice, focusing on distinct regional features and outcomes in sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America, the transition economies of the former Soviet bloc and, as examples of success, East Asia (including China and Vietnam). Next we discuss the macroeconomic context and the two‐way direction of causality between a redistribution of productive assets and the overall performance of the economy. We underline the importance of weakening the system of labour control, eliminating landlord bias and correcting urban bias. Finally, we argue that a prominent feature of all successful land reforms has been a high degree of land confiscation; full compensation and various types of ‘market friendly’ land reform are unlikely to be successful.