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Absentee Landlords and Farm Management in Brazil During the 1960s
Author(s) -
Dillman C. Dakiel
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.1978.tb02786.x
Subject(s) - productivity , agricultural economics , agriculture , agrarian society , agrarian reform , poverty , business , absenteeism , geography , economic growth , economics , socioeconomics , management , archaeology
A bstract . Remote control of land and labor by absentee landlords joined with other supportive elements of latifundismo to reinforce the discontinuity between rural poverty and urban wealth and power. Absentee ownership was self‐perpetuating, as returns from latifundio agriculture were channeled into more remunerative commercial ventures. Not restricted in its distribution to a particular region, the incidence of absenteeism generally rose with increasing farm size. Three‐quarters of the minifundiarios resided on their properties against one‐half of the latifundiarios , and administrator‐operators were concentrated heavily on larger farms. The economic double‐life of the landed 61ite helped to sustain traditional practices of farm management that reduced opportunities for improved efficiency and productivity in Latin America's largest agrarian sector.